Marrying Ugandan boxing with hip hop

In a bid move to revamp Ugandan boxing, a move has been launched to blend tournaments with hip hop music.

The marriage of convenience between boxing and hip hop music, dubbed the Kasmer Championship, is intended to give the sport a better platform to draw large fans as well as potential sponsors.

The campaign, which is the first of its kind in the world, is a brainchild of Canada-based Ugandan Brian Kasoma.

The programme launched on Wednesday is expected to start in May under Kasmer Brave Champs Championships Ltd. in partnership with local boxing authorities Uganda Boxing Federation and Uganda Professional Boxing Commission.

Despite putting Uganda on the world map, Ugandan boxers have been wailing in difficulties owing to lack of sponsorship.

Kasoma, a music and sound engineer who made a demonstration show of the concept in Canada last year, says the Kasmer Championship is the only way forward for the sport.

"To make boxing grow, we need to attract the interest of more people and potential sponsors," he said.

 "We want to start this venture here so that Uganda becomes the Las Vegas [boxing capital] of Africa."

Under the arrangement, boxing championship-spiced performances from top hip hop artists will be telecast live on TV.

Viewers of the show will vote for the best artists through SMS on phone while referee/judges will fully be in charge of the boxing proceedings.

"If you see boxing it is all about hip hop. If people don't want boxing, they gonna come and like hip hop," said Brian Kasoma.

"This is the digital edge, we can do something great for boxing," added Kasoma who urged companies to embrace the concept.