I SAY SO

Mar 28, 2004

I suddenly want to be a boxer. It’s an urge similar to the ambition I had as a youngster growing up in Naguru-the Mecca of Ugandan boxing.

I Wanna Lace My Gloves
I suddenly want to be a boxer. It’s an urge similar to the ambition I had as a youngster growing up in Naguru-the Mecca of Ugandan boxing.
I would probably today be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mike Tyson had I not been caned out of the ring by my mother - a disciplinarian who wanted me to tow a different line.
Years later I realised why my parents wanted me concentrate on books.
True, with the sweet science came glory. But this was short-lived. I didn’t have stretch to see how deceptive glory could get in Ugandan boxing.
There are numerous examples of fighters, who won Uganda loads honours only to retire in squalor.
Perhaps the most gripping of these glory-to-tatters stories is that of Olympians Eridad Mukwanga (rip) and Leo Rwabwogo.
By the way the Olympics is the top sporting event.
The two pugilists in between themselves won half of Uganda's Olympic medals. Mukwanga, a silver medallist at the 1968 Mexico games, died a pauper in 1997.
Rwabwogo, a bronze and silver medallist at the 1968 and 1972 games , has an almost similar story.
I recently tracked him down at his garden in Kabarole district.
Occupying my mind as I made the hilly eight kilometer journey by motorcycle from Rwabwogo's home to the garden, was the question how the old ma daily made the trip on his squeaking bicycle.
In countries where sports is an issue, you would have found the Olympic hero supervising a troop of workers. I was instead met by an elderly man labouring with a hoe!
So, why do I suddenly want to revisit my childhood ambition of becoming a boxer?
Someone by the names of Michael Ezra has suddenly made boxing worthwhile. His offer of $30,000, a fully furnished house in a posh suburb and a top-of-the-range Toyota for an Athens Olympics gold medal, would tempt even the biggest coward to become a boxer. And, mind you, Ezra’s offer also recognises Rwabwogo’s Olympic feats with a sh20m offer.
So, can someone lace my gloves?

jbakama@newvision.co.ug

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});