Uganda: Kyobe Jonah Proves His Worth On Return to Champions League Action

31 July 2023
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Martin Kaddu

National team boxer Jonah Kyobe survived an early scare to see off prospective Eliphaz Mbaziira as Uganda boxing federation Champions league returned on Saturday with week 7 at TLC-Kamwokya.

It was the first fight for Kyobe this season having missed earlier schedules due to injury and sickness respectively.

Kyobe was due to fight big hearted and 2022 National Open best boxer Khassim Murungi during week 5 but could not make it due to sickness. This gave Murungi a chance to have a visa to the ongoing Africa boxing championship in Cameroon where he lost on his debut.

Against Mbaziira on Saturday in the 5-round feather weight main fight, Kyobe had to dig deep for the bloody victory.

The Lukanga boxing insider-boxer was at the receiving end in the opening two rounds thanks to Mbaziira's powerful body shots, counter hooks and consistent jabbing.

However, the S3 student at St Jonah SS-Namugongo lost steam on top of disadvantage when he switched to fighting from the outside in the 3rd round.

Kyobe returned big to win the third and fourth rounds. The decisive 5th round was close but Mbaziira had lost gas to turn defensive -giving Kyobe a chance to outscore him.

At the end, the 2022 Africa bronze medalist won by unanimous decision.

"I congratulate him (Kyobe) but this is not the end. I will go back and correct my mistakes and return big," noted Mbaziira, who attributed his loss to limited preparation time due to his tight school schedules.

For Kyobe, who was also in the Commonwealth games last year, this was a warning signal to whoever thinks of ruling the feather weight category.

"I had a game plan of letting him fight for the first two rounds because I knew he would lose steam, and that is what happened. However, he is a good competitor with art and extraordinary power," acknowledged Kyobe.

Whereas Kyobe was having his first fight of the competition this season, Mbaziira had earlier stopped experienced Derrick Mubiru in his debut Champions league fight.

Another national team boxer Owen Kibira earned a dominant victory against Mohamed Ali after the referee stopped this welter weight contest in the third round.

A total of 15 bouts were held on Saturday with the Sting-energy drink sponsored action broadcast live on NBS Sport.

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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