Unrivaled and unmatched: Lukanga sweeps to seventh straight national title

Lukanga Boxing Club extended its dominance on the national stage after successfully defending the 2026 National Open Boxing Championship title for a historic seventh consecutive time.

The Najjanankumbi-based club cruised to the 2026 crown in another fascinating style, sweeping all categories,  juniors, youths, and elite levels, under the floodlights of a packed MTN Arena in Lugogo.

It was another solid performance for Lukanga BC, whose title defense was led by light welterweight captain Reagan Magumba, light middleweight Brian Kidega, middleweight Yannick Monga, cruiserweight Isma Kanyike, and light flyweight Nelson Oloch.

En route to the final, Lukanga BC outclassed many of their opponents and entered the decisive stage with the most boxers (eight), followed by COBAP with five, and UPDF in third with four.

By the final bell, Lukanga BC finished with a distant 112 points, tripling second-placed COBAP, who had 42 points. Brawn Boxing Club (under its merger of Bunyoro-Kitara Boxing Clubs) came third with 37 points.

Breaking it down by category, Lukanga won the juniors category with 30 points, followed by Kiira BC on 18 and Bunyoro BC on 12. In the youth category, Lukanga garnered 43 points, followed by second-placed Namungoona BC on 23 and Zebra BC on 17 in third. In the elite category, Lukanga edged COBAP in a tight contest, finishing on 39 points against COBAP's 27, while UPDF finished third with 24 points.

Since KCCA Boxing Club's galacticos, led by light welterweight Shadir Musa, welterweight David Ssemujju, light heavyweight Reagan Ssimbwa, and bantamweight Nasir Bashir,  clinched the 2017 National Open, Lukanga has won every edition held since: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and now 2026. The 2020 and 2021 editions were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past 16 years, only Kampala Boxing Club (KBC) in 2010, East Coast BC in 2014, and KCCA in 2017 have stopped the indomitable giants from winning the national open title. UPDF won the 2016 edition, which Lukanga boycotted.

Twaibu Mayanja, head coach of Lukanga BC, said: "I'm happy with our performance in this year's National Open. My team has once again proved we are unrivalled and unmatched. Our target is to win everything at our disposal."

This year's National Open attracted over 500 boxers from 42 clubs, with all semi-finalists guaranteed qualification for the 2026 UBF Boxing Champions League.

Notable elite boxers who failed to punch their way to the final include 2023 Africa Boxing Champions silver and bronze medalists Wasswa Ssali and Joseph Kalema, as well as UBF Boxing Champions League flyweight gold medalist Moses Kimera, among others.