Golola, Lusambya to fight in memory of late sports journalist Bashir Khan

KAMPALA. Besides the allure of two crowd-pulling fighters, the boxing event on Boxing Day will also be a memorial for renowned sports journalist Bashir Khan Lugudo, who died of acute kidney failure in July 2011.
In one of the two lead title fights organised by Step by Step and Nara Promotions on December 26, famous kickboxer Moses Golola will face Kizito Ongom, popularly known as Kasumaali for the National Light Heavyweight Title.
In another potentially pulsating encounter, former African super welterweight champion Badru ‘Mr Crush’ Lusambya is vowing to crash former East & Central African super welterweight middleweight champion Meddie ‘Kabona’ Sebyala when they face off for the National Middleweight Title at L’Aponye Mall in downtown Kampala.
To hype the event, last week Lusambya moved with an army of fans from Cooper Complex, in Kampala, making stops at busy spots, doing shadow boxing as fans raised placards.

Yesterday morning was Sebyala’s turn: with his fans he moved from KBC gym at Owino Mall through Kisenyi, Owino Market, to Ham Shopping Mall.
The organisers, according to Nara’s Hussein Babu, have committed 10 percent of the proceeds from the event to Bashir Khan’s family as a sign of honouring his legacy.

Golola also promised to donate the same portion of his purse to the family of a man who played a big role in building his career, when kickboxing was an unknown sport in Uganda.
“Bashir Khan was no ordinary sports journalist, he was a role model; he loved his profession and set the standards for us,” said Babu, who is also a sports presenter on Metro FM.
While working for NBS TV, Bashir Khan, as he was known among fans and peers, exuded sheer passion and professionalism in sports journalism and his fame grew so fast as the go-to broadcaster, especially in kickboxing and boxing. Even in his last days he appeared sports venues. He was buried in Butalejja.