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A tale of three boxing brothers
L-R: Charles Lubulwa, Moses Lumago, Robert Lukanga, Juma Ayiro and Peter Okello at the All Africa Games in Cairo, Egypt in 1991. Courtesy photo
What you need to know:
Charles Lubulwa and Fred Muteweta are household names in local boxing circles while their brother, Robert Lukanga, is somewhat unknown, simply because he never attained the same success in the ring.
In 1990, Charles Lubulwa (Lightweight), Fred Muteweta (Bantam) and Robert Lukanga (Featherweight) became the first brothers to be part of the Ugandan national boxing team at a major tournament.
The trio represented the nation at the Kings Cup in Thailand. Whereas Lubulwa and Muteweta registered success in many tournaments, Lukanga failed to live up to his big brothers’ example.
The genesis
Lubulwa, the eldest, introduced his brothers to the ‘sweet science’. However, even in his case, it was a struggle to convince his father to let him join the sport.
Lubulwa fell in love with boxing because Naguru, their birthplace, was a beehive of boxing activities. At the Naguru Community Center Hall, boxing was the main activity that attracted many youth from the neighbouring Naguru-Nakawa estates.
Thus, growing up, Lubulwa had the likes of John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi and John ‘The Matador’ Munduga to look up to. The two, among many others, were good at boxing and every youngster in Naguru admired them.
But his father would have nothing of it. Stealthily, Lubulwa started boxing while a pupil at St Jude Primary School, with the likes of John Siryakibbe and Hussein ‘Juba’ Khalil.
However, Lubulwa’s father had other ideas. “He hated boxing. Like many parents of the day, he used to think boxers were thugs, and to make matters worse, Naguru had a high crime rate. So my father stopped me from participating. He was ready to do anything to stop me,” recalls Lubulwa.
At the age of 13, Lubulwa defied his father and boxed in the national juniors’ tournament. Fuming, the old man transferred him to St Charles Lwanga, Masaka.
“But because I had done well in the Opens, coach Fred Genza (RIP) would secretly bring me to Kampala to compete. The national team selectors had seen a lot of potential in me. They couldn’t afford to let my talent slip through their fingers,” he says.
Lubulwa’s big break came in 1980. He won gold in the national open and silver in the intermediates competitions, respectively.
“I will never forget that tournament. We were both young but Lubulwa had a tough jab. I defeated all my opponents and he also knocked out all his opponents.
Going pro
“We met in the intermediates final and that was the most exciting match of the tournament. He had become a knockout specialist of sorts, so I had to devise means of defeating him without being knocked out. I polished my movements and he found trouble catching me with his strong right hand. I defeated him because of my movements. I could punch and move, so he got tired of running after me. That’s how I won,” recalls Khalil.
After the tournament, national team coach Peter Grace Sseruwagi was convinced of the young boy’s talent and selected him for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia, as a 16-year-old. But he fell to Hungary’s György Gedó in the first round. After his father’s death in 1982, Lubulwa decided to concentrate on boxing. He regained his place for the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, and lost in the quarterfinals.
At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA, Lubulwa was the last Ugandan boxer to lose, falling to Nigerian Peter Konyegwachie in the quarterfinals.
Jonathan Kirisa, Godfrey Nyeko, William Bagonza, John Kakooza, William Galiwango (RIP), Peter Okumu, Vicky Byarugaba, Ludovic Owiny and Patrick Lihanda had all lost their bouts. Lubulwa’s first gold medal came at an international tournament in the Inter-Cup Boxing Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in 1985 plus a bronze in 1988.
In comes Muteweta
By then, Muteweta had also quit soccer for boxing. He had been playing football for Kololo High School and City Cubs, KCC FC’s junior team.
“I was a very good winger but I used to admire boxers because unlike footballers, they travelled a lot. When we lost our father, Lubulwa became the head of the family. So it was a matter of time before I joined him in the ropes,” Muteweta shares.
Lubulwa kept working hard and got selected the overall Team Uganda Captain for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Muteweta was also part of the team but lost to Wayne McCullough of Ireland while Lubulwa lost to Nigerian Blessing Onoko. That tournament had contrasting fortunes for both fighters; whereas it was Lubulwa’s final appearance at the Olympics, it gave Muteweta his first taste of the Olympics fire.
Animosity in national team
Muteweta’s arrival on the national scene came with contestations. During the 1988 national open championships, Muteweta lost to Moses Lumago (RIP) but managed to revenge in the intermediates, which also doubled as the qualifiers for the German Inter-Club Championships. Lumago and other boxers pointed an accusing finger at Lubulwa, the team captain.
“It was very crazy. Just because I had quit football, Lumago and his friends thought I wasn’t ready for the national team because they had spent long in boxing. They looked at me as a newcomer who had come to take their places.
“Because my brother was the team captain, they alleged that I had been favoured. But I disproved them when I won silver in Germany and was voted the best young boxer. My brother won gold.
“The same year, I also won silver and Lubulwa won gold in the Fescaba games,” Muteweta boasts. In the 1989 Fescaba games in Seychelles, they both won gold.
Fights at home
Like most siblings, fights were inevitable, says Muteweta.
“As young boys, Lukanga and I used to fight a lot. We used to respect Lubulwa because he was much older. He would let us punch ourselves until we got tired,” Muteweta says with a chuckle.
“Yes, they were naughty kids. Of course in every family you will find that kind of sibling rivalry. They used to fight a lot then one day I told them: ‘I don’t want you to fight anymore. I want you to box. Don’t use any other objects apart from your fists’ and they punched themselves to my satisfaction. I was a coach of sorts,” says Lubulwa.
They threw countless punches and in the end, Muteweta thumped Lukanga. It gave him satisfaction but also gave Lukanga confidence in his abilities.
“Enduring my elder brother’s punches was an indicator that I was ready to enter the ring with anyone. I never fought him again because he gave me a lesson. His punches gave me the best orientation and I started focusing on boxing because I had two big brothers to learn from,” says Lukanga.
Catastrophe in Auckland
Lubulwa and Muteweta trained for the 1990 Commonwealth Games like assassins on a mission. “I was in great shape. Everyone knew that I was going to win gold. Even the coach,” says Lubulwa.
However, disaster would strike at the last minute. He had malaria and failed to recover in time; hence failing to throw a single punch.
Lubulwa and Muteweta both look at that misfortune as their biggest disappointment in boxing.
“We (including other teammates) all cried for him. It was unbearable. I still feel bad about it. I think it also contributed to my loss because it left me distraught,” says Muteweta.
A 19-year-old Godfrey Nyakana stepped in to captain the team.
“Lubulwa was our captain and one of the most experienced boxers on the team. We looked up to him for inspiration. I had had an opportunity to engage him in some sparring sessions and picked valuable lessons from him,” Nyakana, who went on to win gold in the Lightweight category, says.
Light flyweight Justin Juuko also won gold while light heavyweight Joseph Abdul Kaddu Sabata and middleweight Charles Matata came back with bronze medals.
“I am sure if Lubulwa hadn’t pulled out; he was going to win a medal. Most of the boxers in his weight category didn’t even have a quarter of his talent.
“He was going to thump them. His sickness coast us a medal and he became disillusioned after the tournament. We all felt sorry for him,” adds Nyakana.
Threesome combination
At that time, Lukanga had also pushed his way into the national team.
He was selected for the 1990 Kings Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, but his inexperience cost him. Now, the Uganda boxing national team had three brothers.
“It gave us courage. However, in the team, I was learning from the big boys. I liked the way Lubulwa used to command respect from teammates. He was talented and it gave me and my fellow youngsters reason to work hard,” says Lukanga.
In Thailand, Muteweta won gold and Lubulwa came with bronze. Lukanga failed to win any medal.
The trio also went to the 1991 All-Africa Games in Cairo, Egypt, where Muteweta won gold. Lubulwa and Lukanga lost in the quarterfinals. At the 1991 Fescaba games in Namibia, Muteweta again won gold and Lubulwa bagged silver.
It was obvious that Lubulwa and Muteweta were the better boxers. Lukanga had failed to emulate his brothers’ prowess.
Unfortunately, Lubulwa was nearing retirement and Lukanga was dropped from the team that played in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where Muteweta lost to McCullough again. He dusted himself to settle for silver in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada.
With Muteweta turning professional in 1996 (10 fights, 5 wins, 5 losses), Lukanga also quit boxing after landing a job at one of businessman Sudhir Ruparelia’s companies. Lubulwa ventured into coaching, and is still the head coach at Kampala Capital City Authority Boxing Club in Naguru while Muteweta is based in the USA.
