After Intermediates victory, Lukanga plots sweep at Open

After clinching the National Intermediates overall trophy at the MTN Arena-Lugogo, Saturday night, Lukanga Boxing Club is plotting even more dominance at the National Open due February.

Lukanga, an amalgamation of boxers from about 12 clubs, won just the Youths’ trophy with 36 points, but came second in the other two categories: 23 in Juniors’, and 26 in Elites, totalling a massive 85 points overall.

Sparks Boxing Academy, who won the overall Novices trophy two weeks ago, did not sparkle bright enough, winning just the Juniors’ trophy on 31, finishing third with 19 in the Elite’s category, and a distant 15th in the Youths’ category.

That gave Lukanga a huge advantage, beating Sparks (50 points) with a 35-point difference. Third-placed Cobap managed just 42 points.

“It was sweet revenge, after losing all the Novices trophies to Sparks recently,” said Twaibu Mayanja, Lukanga’s head coach.

“This is not my victory alone. It’s a collective effort by the entire club, choosing the good boxers, facilitating them and training them by the different coaches, and giving them the right tactics in the ring,” added Mayanja, who was also awarded best coach of the tournament.

“The fans were also awesome. They keep us motivated. Now our focus is to sweep all the four trophies at the Open.”

It was a title defense of sorts, because Lukanga also won the overall Intermediates crown the last time it was contested in 2018.

Mayanja hinted at some wrong calls by the judges but wished it away, saying they are generally improving.

Meanwhile, Simon Mugagga, UPDF team manager, commended his team for winning the Elites’ trophy and finishing fourth overall, saying it’s the best they could get, “Because as an army side we don’t have a Juniors’ team and our youths didn’t do a bigger job.”