Uganda’s declining story at World Boxing Championship

When Ayub Kalule and Joseph Nsubuga won gold at the inaugural World Boxing Championship in Havana, Cuba, Uganda finished joint fifth with Puerto Rico in the world, behind Yugoslavia (4th), United States (3rd), Soviet Union (2nd) and Cuba (1st). The future looked pretty bright.
But Uganda’s ranking has gradually fallen to 32nd thanks to inadequate performances which have fetched no medal and sometimes no-shows in the 18 subsequent editions.
The reasons for this steady decline range from administrative wrangles, poor preparations, and lack of luck, as triple Olympian Charles Lubulwa told me in 2017.
But the biggest concern now is that, going by the latest three editions, the Bombers burning hunger to break the 45-year jinx of not winning a medal at the World Championship is not about to be satiated.
Doha 2015: Kaggwa’s weight woes
By the start of the 18th edition of the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in 2015, Uganda ranked 27 among 60 nations. But another poor show fueled the gradual but steady fall from sublime to ridiculous.
Four Bombers had qualified for Doha after scooping bronze medals at the African Confederation Boxing Championships in Casablanca, Morocco.

But UPDF Staff sergeant Mike Ssekabembe, who had won Commonwealth bronze at the 2014 Games in Glasgow, sacrificed the World Championships for the World Military Games.
In Doha, lightweight Hassan Abdul, a UPDF Corporal lost to North Korea’s Chol Guk Kwon in Doha, winning once and losing his second preliminary fight. Likewise, Bombers captain Rogers Semitala instantly lost the bantamweight contest to Ecuador’s Segundo Padilla Bennet.
But the worst of all sins was Fazil Juma Kaggwa’s failure to fit in the 49kg limits of light flyweight, hence being barred to compete.
“I tried my best to make the weight,” Kaggwa told me later that year, “I starved myself, I suffered, Coach Dick (Katende) put me on a hectic workout regime, I lost about 5kgs but failed by just five points. What more could I do?”
Uganda finished last of the 21 one countries that tied in 49th position.
Hamburg 2017: Ayiti’s ban, more losses
Two years later, the Bombers shone, even brighter at the African Championship in Brazzaville, scooping gold and two silver medals. The three heroes went to Hamburg, Germany with Uganda’s hopes for a better performance at the Worlds even higher.
But Muzamir Kakande, the 2017 African welterweight champion, lost instantly to USA’s captain Quinton Randall by unanimous decision after bantamweight Geoffrey Kakeeto suffered a first-round knocked against Nicaragua’s Angel Jarquin.
Again, the worst of sins was super heavy David Ayiti’s missing action. It wasn’t his choice, though. Rather the dishonesty of the Uganda Boxing Federation which feigned ignorance of Aiba’s tournament doctor’s recommendation that due to the devastating knockout Ayiti suffered in the African final he should not fight until after three months. By the Hamburg event in August 2017, the suspension had about a month to end.
Uganda finished third-last of the 24 nations that finished joint 52nd. And the wait for just one victory at the Worlds since 2011, was stretched further.

Yekaterinburg 2019: no-show
The only Ugandan in the ring at the ongoing World Boxing Championship in Yekaterinburg, Russia is Stephen Aciga Fula, a referee/judge. Not middleweight David Ssemuju or featherweight Isaac Masembe, who bagged silver medals at the African Games in Rabat, Morocco last month.
After impressing at the continent, Ssemuju and Masembe or any other, would want to test their work at the world stage, especially in a year preceding the 2020 Olympics.
Even Hellen Baleke, who bagged bronze in Rabat, will miss the Women’s edition in Ulan-Ude, Russia in October.
UBF boss Moses Muhangi said they lacked the funds to prepare the team for Russia. “And we have the Olympic qualifiers, which are more important, so with limited resources, we made the tough choice to opt out of world championship,” he said at the ‘meet and greet the champs’ breakfast at Kati Kati Restaurant Wednesday.
In 2015, a more underfunded UBF, under president Kenneth Gimugu, sent nine boxers to the African Championship in Casablanca [their accommodation funds only sustained them to the semifinals, though]; seven to the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville and three to the World Championship in Doha. How they did it is another story, but what is certain is that after missing the 20th edition of the World Boxing Championship, Uganda’s rank will fall further.