Zebra Jr. has huge potential, says Nepal Coach

Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jr could become an African champion very soon, according to Sujit Kumar, the Nepal national team coach who also volunteered to coach Ssenyange at the ongoing 2023 IBA World Boxing Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Ssenyange was the only Ugandan boxer at the event and defeated Thodoris Ritzakis of Greece in the Round of 64 to become the first Ugandan to win a bout at the World tournament since Ismail Muwendo and Edward Akora at the 2007 World Boxing Championship in Chicago, USA.

But like the former Bombers 15 years ago, Ssenyange fell at the second hurdle, losing the light middleweight Round of 32 contest by split decision to Georgian 2020 Olympian Eskerkhan Madiev, despite winning the first round.

Ssenyange, who made his national debut last May, did not hit his target of three wins in Tashkent, but Kumar, his volunteer coach and cornerman, predicted a bright future.

“I see him coming back to the next World Championship, I see him becoming a champion on his continent. I see him turning professional in the future. He definitely has potential,” Kumar told Daily Monitor via WhatsApp. 

“A lot of support from his federation will be fuel to fire and everything else Zebra is gonna figure out himself. He knows what he is doing and he knows his goals. He knows what he wants to become.”

Both met on the plane from Dubai to Tashkent. “We realised he was a boxer and when we talked to him we learnt that he didn’t travel with a coach,” Kumar narrated.

“So we went for a workout together in the gym where Nepal trained from. Our energies merged. I had a southpaw fighter, Zebra is left-handed too so I had a lot of techniques I could teach him. That’s how we connected. The love and respect we had for each other. The humbleness;  we are both calm and collected. We see things in similar ways.”

Technically, Kumar said: “On a scale of 10 I would give him seven or eight, though there’s still room to improve.

“As a fighter he is smart, he is strong, maybe he needs to work on the long combinations and better footwork. Sometimes it’s not like you throw longer combinations and remain straight, but there are places where he can throw longer combinations and definitely work on defense, better head movement and footwork,” Kumar said.

“We about all these things and I hope he is taking them in. He also has a coach in the UK who is helping him. So that’s good. I believe his mother is also a boxing coach and nobody wants to protect their child as much as a mother would.”

Beyond boxing, Kumar said: “We talked a lot about his country, his family and the things he has gone through. He behaves like a mature person, like a 30-year old. He is very humble, very respectful, always willing to learn and grow. And he is in the sport for life.”

The feeling is mutual. “Coach Sujit was able to analyse my style and found ways of making me perform even better. But mostly, our synchronisation in the ring, where I was able to follow his pointers while fighting,” Ssenyange told us earlier.

It seems this friendship won’t stop in the Humo Arena. “Even when we part ways from here, we are going to keep in touch. I will always look out for him. We are friends for life,” Kumar said.

ISAAC 'ZEBRA' SSENYANGE

RESULTS 

ELITE MEN 67-71KG LIGHT MIDDLE SCORECARD

Round of 64 

Ssenyange (Uganda) RSC 2 Ritzakis (Greece)

Round of 32

Ssenyange (Uganda) 0-4 E. Madiev (Georgia)