Uganda: Why Are Ugandan Boxers Not At the Olympics in Paris?

31 July 2024
The Observer (Kampala)
By John Vianney Nsimbe

When boxers Eridadi Mukwanga and Leo Rwabwogo bagged silver and bronze respectively in 1968 during the Olympics in Mexico City, they laid a landmark.

These were the first two medals that Uganda had won at the Olympics, making boxing Uganda's signature sport at that stage. But the last time Uganda won a medal in boxing at the Olympics was in 1980 during the Moscow games. John 'The Beast' Mugabi won a silver, which was Uganda's only medal then.

This, inevitably made boxing Uganda's flagship sport at the Olympics. It was the fifth Olympics medal in Uganda's haul of which four had been from boxing. Yet, it has been 44 years since Uganda won a medal in boxing. Worse still, for the first time since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, there's be no Ugandan boxer at the Paris Olympics, which begin this weekend.

So, is boxing still Uganda's premier sport, yet it has won no Olympics medals for decades now?

Isaac 'Zebra' Ssenyange, who is a welterweight fighter has been part of the national boxing, the 'Bombers' for the last couple of years. In fact, he tried to qualify for the Olympics before coming short. Ssenyange noted that failure to qualify for the Olympics should come as a surprise.

He explained: "Our preparation has been bad intermittently. I have met boxers from other countries that qualified, and they told me that they were in camp for not less than three months, preparing. But for us, you go to camp before a major tournament, for two weeks. "

In addition, Ssenyange said that at a point, when a pugilist should be focusing on tactics and studying the potential opponents' strengths and weaknesses, a Ugandan one is working to get fit, and most probably to get their weight right.

Last year, when the Bombers were heading out to Senegal for the Africa Championships, one of Uganda's picks, David Ssemujju was told to cut his weight so that he would fight in a lower-weight category he had not been fighting in.

But all that unfolded when the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) president, Moses Muhangi and the Uganda Olympics Committee (UOC) president, Don Rukare, were arguing about who should have been on the team to Senegal.

For Muhangi, he cited interference from the UOC, believed strongly that only boxers that had been competing in the Boxing Champions League, managed by UBF, should have been selected because they were more active than those UOC picked, who also included former Olympian, Shadir Bwogi.

However, even those selected by UBF did not qualify for the Olympics.

Ssenyange was one of them, as was Joshua Tukamuhebwa. "To get to the top, there has to be a deliberate programme that is extended, to develop a boxer. Even when a boxer fails at one international event, let them go back to another because they gain experience and improve," Ssenyange said.

Although Tukamuhebwa has proved to be a talented boxer since he was first unearthed back in 2019, he has come short at major meets. Mauritian Richarno Colin has defeated Tukamuhebwa four times in different tournaments, proving to be his stumbling block. This has brought into question, the quality of boxing coaches in the country.

There are big doubts about how much they put to detail. In fact, observers believe that although the Boxing Champions League has attracted a lot of razzmatazz, beyond that, the quality of boxing remains low. Sula Kamoga, the chief executive officer of the Boxing Champions League, leapt to the defence of this tournament, saying that it is a growing platform, that should not be bashed especially because of how many talents it produces every year.

Yet, Kamoga was quick to acknowledge that they need to invest more in coaching in order to give the boxers a good base against the global competition. Apparently, Ugandan boxers have been found wanting in many boxing aspects. To improve, the boxers need to give the sport time to train and fight.

However, that will not happen unless they have bread on the table; constant earning. For what it is worth, Africa will have 20 boxers in Paris. Unsurprisingly, North Africa, who really invest in boxing, are sending 12 of these. Four are from West Africa, two apiece from Central and Southern Africa, but none from East Africa.

Read the original article on Observer.

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