Mulindwa fought Amin, Tyson’s rivals

Kampala. In 1974, the year Uganda hosted All-Africa Boxing Championship, Peter Mulindwa aka Kojja left Mutolere Secondary School in Kigezi, after Senior One to pursue his dream of ever boarding a plane and representing Uganda in boxing.
But in 1976, he joined the anti-Amin insurgence and in 1979 he narrowly survived being arrested with a pistol in Kampala.

“We were told Amin was planning to connive with the Anyanya to take away my grandfather’s land; and that we the nationals would become slaves and homeless,” Mulindwa recalls.
“Come what may, we can’t let that happen,” he remembers having felt. “We must fight it.”

When Ugandan exiles launched the attack on Amin in 1976, Mulindwa helped in offloading and carrying ammunition at Kasenyi landing site and ferrying information from Kampala to Moshi. Meanwhile, he stayed a boxer at Kampala Boxing Cub then under Uganda Plastics.
“The day [January 25, ’79] when Amin celebrated eight years since he overthrew Obote, I escaped from the national boxing camp at Nsamizi Institute but I was nearly arrested with a pistol.

“One soldier who headed the boxing federation asked me ‘Kojja what are you doing here?’ I told him I had come to check on my colleagues at KBC. He didn’t ask further. He gave me soldiers who escorted me through the roadblocks, back to Nsamizi, that‘s how I survived.”

After Amin fell in April ’79, Lule’s government wanted to sponsor Mulindwa’s further studies as reward for serving the rebellion.
“But I told them ‘had I been educated maybe I wouldn’t have done that job; I had accomplished my mission; I wanted to go abroad.”
They were hesitant to let him go. Some even suspected he had first served Amin. “But it was illogical. I was only a teenager.”
When interim president Yusuf Lule left office just after two months, “I insisted I can’t continue boxing in Uganda. I handed over their pistol to confirm my retirement.”

After winning gold and helping Buganda win the 1979 Inter-Regional tournament in Kasese, Mulindwa made up his mind. “My target was: Canada, Italy or Japan, any first-world country that hadn’t colonised an African country.” [Though Italy colonised Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Libya].

There was an offer that servants of the rebellion who had parents in exile would apply for a grant. Mulindwa’s parents were in Masaka but he lied they were exiled in Kenya. “I asked for $10,000, I got $8,000.”

He went to Kenya in September ’79, where he trained with Cargo Handling Boxing Club, thinking that if he fails to fly abroad, he would work with cargo shipping companies.
Mulindwa’s closest chance to represent Uganda failed after losing the national trials of the 1976 Olympics, which Uganda boycotted, nevertheless. But he cannot forget the Shs2500 Col Nassur gave him when he helped the Central Province to the Inter-Province Championship the same year.

Fighting Bruno, for the money
From Kenya, Mulindwa finally reached Italy in 1979. He did not know anyone in Rome. A cab took him to a nearby boxing club, where he got a manager.
And on May 24, 1980 the heavyweight made his professional debut—a second-round TKO of Italian Antimo Tescione, who had won 8, lost 19, and drawn 3.

After Tescione, his next six bouts—in about 22 months—ended in two wins, two losses, two draws. But surprisingly, his eighth was against Britain’s future world champion Frank Bruno in London.
“I had gone to do sparring with one boxer who was on the undercard of Boom-Boom Mancini in Saint-Vincent—a small town in north-western Italy,” Mulindwa recalls.
Mickey Duff, who was Bruno’s promoter also managed George Feeney, Mancini’s opponent, and had come to Italy.

“Duff was impressed the way I handled my sparring partner and proposed the Bruno fight.” Mulindwa hesitated but Duff insisted “‘You are fit and strong. You can make it.’”
The legendary promoter was no stranger to Ugandan boxers. He was managing John “The Beast” Mugabi and Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Ugandans who became world champions in the ‘80s.

“Bruno’s record scared me. I called my manager, who wasn’t in Italy. Bruno was a heavyweight, I was a cruiserweight…he told me to make the decision. I took the deal for the money.” Mulindwa got £300,000. A whopping sum then.

“I had never got that cash,” and never did he again. “That night I even failed to bathe…I feared someone would steal my money.”
His manager was a busy man. He didn’t even make it to Britain.
Mulindwa does not blame anyone for his loss to Bruno. But from what he says, you guess the cause.

“Everything was done in two days. There was no airport in Saint-Vincent. We drove to Turin, then Milan and boarded to Heathrow.
We flew the next day, the day of the fight. We reached Heathrow late. Bruno told me he thought we wouldn’t come.”
Mulindwa claims he weighed only 88kgs against Bruno’s 120kgs for the heavyweight contest. [We couldn’t verify this, though]. “But I fought for the money anyway.”

It was Mulindwa’s biggest fight, ever. His first outside Italy—but the British audience in Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London had watched Boza-Edwards win eight stoppages and the EBU European Super Featherweight Title against Spanish Carlos Hernandez in 1982.
Bruno won by KO in the third round.

Hadn’t he suffered a cut on the upper right eyelid in the third round, Mulindwa says, he would have done better. “It wasn’t a punch. I think it was the string of Bruno’s gloves that cut me.”
But he admits: “Bruno wasn’t skilled but was very powerful…like [George] Foreman. He also feared punches, if you watched his fight with Tyson.”

No regrets
After that fight the boxers’ careers took divergent paths. Bruno continued unblemished until he lost his first world title shot to Tim Witherspoon in 1986. In 1989 he lost his challenge for the IBF, WBA and WBC world heavyweight titles to Mike Tyson.

He lost another WBC title challenge to fellow Briton Lennox Lewis in 1993, but finally landed the coveted belt in 1995 after outpointing WBC champion Oliver McCall in Wembley Stadium.

A second meet with Tyson, in 1996, ended his career: He lost his title, by a third round stoppage and suffered a bad eye injury which forced him to retire soon with 40 wins, 5 losses.
Mulindwa fought in Malta, France and Brazil. But never for any title. He lost 17 of his 24 fights, retired in 1989 after only his fifth victory.

He fell out with a girlfriend who wanted to force him into marriage in exchange for the Italian passport. He bought shares in Fiat, and opened a workshop repairing antica—old furniture.

The Rome resident is also a boxing and fitness trainer. “I don’t regret anything, I don’t regret choosing boxing over education. It gave me my dream. I have travelled the world. But never applied for any visa. Life is good.”

Perhaps, “I can only regret fighting Amin, the man who provided the conducive environment for my boxing dreams.”

PETER MULINDWA

Alias: Kojja
Born: December 20, 1960
Birthplace: Bajja, Masaka
Joined boxing: 1974
Amateur club: KBC
Amateur highlight:
gold in Inter-Province championship
Professional debut: May 24, 1980
Record: W5, L17, D2
Biggest fight: Frank Bruno (1983)
Biggest paycheque: £300,000
Residence: Rome, Lazio (since 1979)

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