Rusty Tugume happy to win belt again

First, Titus ‘The Rock’ Tugume was scheduled to fight American Robert Niemoeller on December 31, 2020, at Kololo Airstrip.
Then the Intercontinental Kickboxing Championship fight was moved to the lakeside Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Furthermore, Niemoeller didn’t turn up even as the organisers, Afrika Mashariki Fest, had already printed T-shirts that bore Tugume versus Niemoeller promotional branding.
In the end, it was just enough that the fight happened with ‘youngster’ John Camacho stepping up for a fight that ended in the third of the planned five rounds with Technical Knock Out (TKO).

The visitor’s corner threw in the towel with Camacho looking visibly tired. He spent the break between round two and three resting on the ropes on the breezy night at the lakeside.
“We travelled for four days to get here from Florida and only trained for 30 minutes but that’s not an excuse,” Camacho’s coach, a one Ruben, said apologetically.
“It was a fair fight and you, Titus, won fair. Hope we’ve another fight and are able to prepare better. You’re a good fighter.”   

Tugume won it but with this being the first kickboxing event in over 10 months, the satisfaction stretched beyond the belt amid the Covid-19 pandemic that ground sport to a halt from March to September last year.
“I’m very happy that we have been able to hold this fight,” Tugume said in a ring interview. “I want to thank my family and my UPDF family for making it possible.”
A Warrant Officer II, Tugume is part of the Air Force that was heavily represented with Col James Muhwezi, the deputy director of personnel, in attendance.
As expected, Tugume looked rusty throughout having not tasted action for a long time.

Perhaps the biggest thrills of the night were reserved for the undercards. The younger fighters exhibited admirable levels of skill and heart that got the crowd of under 200 cheering loudly.
However, just to emphasize the needs of the fighters, it was common to see them sharing gloves and some wore half-torn shorts. These created a sore sight

Kickboxing results
Titus Tugume         bt    John Camacho(TKO)
Joseph Senyonjo    bt    Sam Mawanda
Sharif Muwuulya        bt    Abdallah Bwanga
Mike Mutumba        bt    Joseph Mugerwa
Nash Mpindi         bt     Henry Kabazzi
John Tumukunde     bt     Tom Ndugga
Hazard Okello         bt     Sinan Lukwago
A. Kyambadde         bt     Martin Alho
Zenah Nakulima         bt     Abwoli Muwajjuma

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