Tanzanian Mpenda stuns Daku for WBU title

Daku (2nd L) looks away as referee Abdul Sabata raises Mpenda's arm. PHOTO/ABDUL-NASSER SSEMUGABI

What you need to know:

In the first round, Kassim Ouma shouted mtupe jab (unleash jabs) but when he was reminded that Swahili was the opponent’s best language, he was confused. And by the third round, the former world champion had lost interest and resorted to a side conversation several metres away, with his back facing the ring.  

Farouk Daku travelled from Amsterdam, incurred all the costs, cocksure he would win the World Boxing Union super middleweight title, thanks to home advantage. And because he was the fight promoter.

Even after a poor show, he still believed that avoiding a knockout was enough to win. The judges did the unusual announcing Tanzanian Pius Mpenda, a foreigner, winner, moreover of a title fight.

The scorecard: 115-119; 112-120 and 113-116, was even friendly to Daku, who did not win a single round.

Daku, 37, had no answers for Mpenda, 25, who switched stances at will and to devastating effect. In the early rounds when he played his natural orthodox his right hook rocked Daku’s head and body with raw speed and power. And when he switched to southpaw, it was his left hand that did the damage: hooks, uppercuts, to the head and to the body.

In the first round, Kassim Ouma shouted mtupe jab (unleash jabs) but when he was reminded that Swahili was the opponent’s best language, he was confused. And by the third round, the former world champion had lost interest and resorted to a side conversation several metres away, with his back facing the ring.  

The athletic Mpenda’s power was so overwhelming that even though guarding was the best Daku did, Mpenda’s shots rattled his arms and found their way to the chin, face, jaws, or chest. His shooting speed, excellent footwork and lateral body movements also confused Daku.

Often, Mpenda hit, feinted, hit, ducked, squatted, smiled, hit, sidestepped, pulled forth, backwards, throughout the 12 rounds. Little wonder, Daku was bleeding from the nose by the third round; his left eye swollen and his lips as red as his trunks by the eighth. Mpenda was simply sweating, as if in a light sparring session.

Bw’omukuba oba olumya ffe (whenever you hit him you’re hurting us), a Ugandan fan pleaded. But the Tanzanian had no mercy. He couldn’t stop thumping his host. He knew that to win on foreign territory you have to be exceptional.

Mumuwe omusipi gwe, (give him his belt) two fans said by the last bell. And after a long silent wait, Mpenda somersaulted in jubilation.  

“UPBC has decided to give away my belt yet they know I have incurred all the costs to stage this fight,” Daku, bleeding from the nose, said after his first home defeat.

But what would he feel losing after fighting the way Mpenda did? “We lose even in more bizarre circumstances when we fight away from home,” he said.

A loser's mind is fragile just after the fight. But a review of the fight later will perhaps tell him that even though boxing officials make dubious calls, this was too obvious to rig.

This is not the Daku who defeated Hungarian Jozsef Kormany for the World Boxing Forum super middleweight belt in 2016 in Nakivubo.

“I couldn’t jab with my right hand, because some bones were removed from it in surgery in 2019,” he admitted. His corner-man John Ssemanda echoed the concern. But isn’t a 23rd loss, the 10th in a row in five years (22 wins and a draw) enough to retire at 37?

Not yet. “I will be back in six months.”

In the main fight on Step by Step Promotions’ multi-bout event at Aponye Hotel, Kampala, Daku’s tormentor turned corner-man for fellow Tanzanian Hussein Mbonde but super lightweight Charles Mulindwa avenged with a unanimous decision victory after eight rounds, to the delight of the remaining fans by 7:08am Sunday.

SELECTED RESULTS

Charles Mulindwa  def. Hussein Mbonde, UD

Pius Mpenda def. Farouk Daku, UD

Nasser Bukenya def. Ayub Wakisadha, KO, 1st

Mercy Acayo def. Oteng Benny Ajek, UD

Kalifan Bududa def. Shafick Nyombi, TKO, 4th