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I’m Africa’s No.1, Kemisi claims

Kemis Ibrahim (brown trunks) fights against Wasswa Ssali in the 60Kgs category. PHOTOS/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
When Kemisi gave the notes to Wasswa Ssali in the blue corner, his seconder Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jr, sporting an Arsenal jersey and a silver-plated chain, pulled them and threw them on the canvas. “Useless,” his body language suggested after Bwaise lost to Kibuli.
As the crowded Lugogo Arena waited for the judges’ verdict on the main bout of Week 14 of the Uganda Boxing Champions League, Ibrahim Kemisi’s father, a banker, sneaked into the doctor’s neutral corner with a bundle of new Shs1000 notes, peeled off some and handed them to his son to give his opponent.
When Kemisi gave the notes to Wasswa Ssali in the blue corner, his seconder Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jr, sporting an Arsenal jersey and a silver-plated chain, pulled them and threw them on the canvas. “Useless,” his body language suggested after Bwaise lost to Kibuli.
Perhaps, he wasn’t happy that the fight had ended prematurely and most likely in Kemisi’s favour, after Ssali sustained a deep cut above his left eye in the fourth round—triggering a rapturous noise in the Arena’s right wing.
Perhaps, he was reminding us that these few thousand shillings are just pocket change for Ssali, who recently bagged nearly Shs40m ($10,000) for his silver medal at the 2023 African Boxing Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon. But a little boy picked up the notes, ordered by Ssali’s fans outside the VIP area.
Still, nothing could bury Ssali’s disappointment. After conceding the first round, which Kemisi approached with unusual caution, Ssali returned in beastly mode, landing some hard shots, with more urgency and vigour, as Kemisi resorted to clenching, and bending.

Boxing fans who attended Week 14 of the 2024 Boxing Champions League at Lugogo.
The rising southpaw had sparked a frenzy when his combinations somehow took Ssali to his knees in the first stanza. Now he was somehow flickering. But Ssali, who had fought Adinan Yasin—one of Kemisi’s mentors—had to maintain his tempo. He did in the first half of Round Three, then waned, as Kemisi’s body dexterity made Ssali fire blanks. Kemisi landed some good right jabs, and hard left hooks to head.
He did it better in the fourth. A right hook to the ear slightly staggered Ssali, and more combinations to the head gave Kemisi the keys to control stuff. He enjoyed himself, Ssali’s desperate uppercut shooting air.
Then the disruptor: the ring doctor applying cotton to stanch the blood around Ssali’s left eyebrow. And no more action, it was announced, sooner.
Kemisi mounted the ropes in his red corner, pulled off the King Kong pose, and dropped his gloves. Job done.
“I am now Africa’s No.2,” Kemisi boasted after being announced winner 5-0. He edited it. “Actually I’m Africa’s No.1 because I’ve defeated Africa’s No.2.”
This was surely his biggest test, which had everyone in his camp thinking, yet he passed it with flying colours. After losing the semis of the National Open in April, he could have missed this league season. But he’s such a brand, a crowd-puller. And he hasn’t wasted that second chance.
On what it means having such a big, fervent following, he said: “Actually, some were Bwaise fans, they just converted into supporting me.”
Some challenged the unanimous decision instead of the RSC-I (referee stopped the contest due to injury). Some claimed a Kemisi headbutt caused the cut. But while the jury’s view of the situation may be contested their verdict was lawful.
“The judges score the round for each boxer up to the time of the termination of the bout, and the boxer who is ahead on points is declared the winner on points, according to the IBA Scoring System,” says Section 19.1.2. of the IBA technical & competition rules 2023, emphasising that the round in which the bout is stopped is scored, even if it is a partial round.
SELECT RESULTS
Ashiraf Yiga (Namungoona) def. Mathias Kyeyune (Lukanga), 5-0
Livingstone Matovu (Brawn) def. Frank Kasozi (Nakawa), 4-1
Samuel Ochen (Kcca) def. Hussein Mulo (Namungoona), 5-0
Shafick Nasasira (Police) def. Julius Kaddu (Katabi), 4-1
Paul Raskara def. Jafar Onen (Eastcoast), 5-0
Jonathan Galiwango (Cobap) def. James Baraka (Lukanga), 5-0
Richard Kasujja (Lukanga) def. Simon Sande (Nansana), 4-1
Nuhu Batte (Cobap) def. Mukwaya Eddy (Kiwatule), 4-1
Ibrahim Kemis (Mutajjazi) def. Waswa Ssali (Lukanga), 5-0