Uganda national boxing team (Bombers) captain, Joshua Tukamuhebwa is in good mood after the side started residential training ahead of the Africa Boxing Championships slated for the July 25 to August 6 in Yaounde, Cameroon.
The team is currently camped at Forest Park Resort in Buloba, Wakiso District. The Bombers entered camp on Thursday with the continental meet around the corner.
Tukamuhebwa, a southpaw, is one of the nation’s key players having emerged the most successful Ugandan boxer at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Burmingham, England. The player is currently revved up for the Yaounde event which is just days away.
“We were called into camp (on Thursday) and we arrived well (my teammates and the coaches). Training started well and by the end of the first session we managed to impress the coaches with our fitness, which is a sign that even where we are going, we can perform well,” Tukamuhebwa said adding that; “our welfare in camp is good, we are fed well and taken care of.”
Tukamuhebwa is one of Uganda’s five internationals, the others being; 2018 AFBC Youth Championships silver medallist Ukasha Matovu now fighting at welterweight, light-heavyweight Idriss Mukiibi, super-heavyweight Solomon Geko and female welterweight Emily Nakalema.
The rest of the 12 boxers will all be making their international debut in Yaounde.
Sensational 18-year-old City High School student who’s also the national featherweight champion Mulungi Kassim of East Coast Boxing Club has been preferred instead of Jonathan Kyobe, a bronze medallist in last year’s Africa Championships in Maputo, Mozambique. Middleweight bronze medallist in Maputo, Yusuf Nkobeza, is also not in the team.
The rest of the newcomers are; minimumweight Joseph Kalema, lightweight Ssali Wasswa, light-middleweight Muzamir Semmud, middleweight Ronald Okello, cruiserweight Lawrence Kayiwa and super-heavyweight James Baraka. Women debutants are light-flyweight Grace Nakinga, bantamweight Naddia Najjeme, featherweight Sharua Ndagire, lightweight Zahara Nandawula and light-welter Erina Namutebi. Coaches are Twaib Mayanja and Ramadan Seguya.
By press time, DR Congo, Tanzania, Comoros, Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt, Swaziland, Guinea, Morocco, Botswana, Congo Brazzaville, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Malawi, Gabon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Togo, Mali, Zambia, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Uganda were the countries that had confirmed their participation in the $1,000,000 Elite Men’s and Women’s Championships.
