Shared Love: Son and mum's boxing passion

Several decades earlier, another wordsmith of prose and poetry, Joseph Rudyard Kipling, had also emphasised the significance of a mother. 

“God could not be everywhere,” wrote the Indian-British novelist and journalist, “and therefore, he made mothers.”

Ugandan boxer Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jnr, like most of us, would relate with their poetry.

For Zebra, especially after his father - Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Snr - was killed by state security operatives in late 2020, it makes even more sense.

His mother and widow to his late dad, Mercy Mukankusi, is practically his life manual.

She is mum, a friend, boxing and life coach; and he - her son, friend, life student and the best athlete in the world.

Sweet science runs deep

Their love is enamoured. It is of devotion. The two sum it with their shared affection for the sweet science as boxing is fondly known.

Inside their modest living room in Bwaise - an area infamous for crime - portraits of Zebra Snr, with a boxing belt rolling down his shoulder muscles, and some others of Zebra Jnr’s three young sisters, ensure we are not alone.

Seated at the extreme right of our interview set, with Zebra Jnr to her left, Mukankusi quickly took us on her boxing journey. 

One day, then a student at Kololo Senior Secondary School, Mukankusi - her humble, welcoming self masking the tough young woman within - was walking through Kisementi, a Kampala suburb.

A scuffle was ongoing and like any curious passerby would, she stopped to savour the spectacle. 

“I found two boxers fighting on the street,” she narrated, “it was a street fight. I loved it.

“That’s when I started learning the game of boxing. From then on, I picked up the game. I looked for the coaches and that was the beginning.”

Several years on, Mukankusi, who also played basketball at school - has gone on to coach young girls into national boxers. 

Mukankusi’s skillset and relentlessness have seen her work with male boxers, too.

One of the males she helps is seated right next to her - a satisfactory gift packed and unwrapped to the world by herself and the late Zebra Snr.

Zebra Jnr proudly nodded through a gentle smile as his mother narrated her story.

And then it was his turn to tell us whose idea it was - mum or dad's - for him to do boxing. 

Born and bred from the gym

“I don't even think I know,” he said through a grin, “I think I just grew into the sport.

“Since I was like three or four years old, I was around boxing events, around boxing training at the gym.

“And because the gym is where we used to stay before, it was hard to separate the two of us.”

The Zebras' old family house, which is just a few walks away from their current home, is where Zebra Jnr, now 20, was born. 

Its compound doubles as an improvised gym as well space for a makeshift ring. Zebra Jnr’s sisters were born in their current home. 

“So yeah, I was around boxing every time. I just grew into it. I wasn't taught the basics, because I was watching while growing up. 

“By the age of seven, I could box already because this is what I was watching on a daily basis.” 

Besides his dad and mum, another man - his uncle Twaibu Mayanja - played an influential role in Zebra Jnr’s early life, especially when Zebra Snr was in the UK.

“He’s always been like a big brother to me,” Zebra Jnr said of Mayanja, “and I’m proud to have shared a lot of good memories with him.”

With two of his young sisters in boarding school and another in the UK, Zebra Jnr lives with his mum.

“For me,” he said of mum, “when we're at home, she's mum. When we are at the gym, she's mum.” 

The feeling between the two is mutual. “Isaac is a disciplined child,” Mukankusi assured, “he obeys everything. 

“When he comes here at home, he does everything you tell him to do. I know he grew up to be a good son.

“From that, he became a good boxer also. I don't know how I can explain it, but he's a good boxer, a good son, a responsible son, and a respectable son. He respects everyone and everything.” 

Could have played basketball

However, there was one thing she wanted him to do but Zebra Jnr never did, and if he did, he would perhaps be shooting hoops at City Oilers or the Silverbacks today.

“When he was growing up,” narrated Mukankusi, “his dad told me he wanted Isaac to be a boxer. But for me, I told him I wanted Isaac to be a basketballer. 

“But in all, Isaac grew up having a basketball ‘ball’ and the gloves around him. I think fate changed everything and Isaac became a boxer.”

His mum has largely been present in all Zebra Jnr’s battles. She is his shoulder before and after fights.

“When he comes back from the fight,” she explained, “I give him time, like resting time from everything because if he's in the ring, he knows that ‘this punch was hitting me and everything’. 

“Later we sit down and review the fight and we talk about it, that ‘this was a mistake, we had to do this, and that’.” 

How Zebra Snr would have loved to be part of all this! Anyway, the former national team - The Bombers - captain’s 15-year career saw him record 195 wins and 19 losses.

Turning point

Zebra Snr also owned the Zebra Boxing Club in Bwaise, which his son and widow, Mukankusi, are determined to continue growing.

“Of course all that comes with pressure,” admitted Zebra Jnr, “a lot of pressure.”

But it is the kind of pressure that Zebra Jnr is embracing. “I think it's the source of my discipline, motivation and everything,” he said.

“When my dad passed in December 2020, I think about two weeks later, January 2021, is when I locked in and decided to pursue boxing professionally, the turning point.

“Before that, at some point he wanted me to become more of a manager, more of an athlete-manager because he also advised me to take on sports management as a course. 

Zebra Jnr went on and pursued the course, graduating with a Diploma in Sports Management at Kyambogo University in 2022. He scored a second class upper. 

“But when he passed, I felt the need to keep his legacy and his name in the ring and everything going on around the people and the crowd and all that. So I had to fight and also manage. Keeping his legacy motivates me the most.” 

Doubters his best fuel

Zebra Jnr is also motivated by his doubters, who claimed he was where he was just because of his father. 

But the youngster has chosen to speak inside the ring. Under coach Solomon Bogere, locally, and AAM Seddiqi Sports, internationally, Zebra Jnr has beaten a number of boxers, including winning all his four professional fights.

“Maybe if they had kept quiet,” said the Super Welterweight champion of Uganda, “I would have been what most people call a mummy's boy. 

“Because if everyone is having sympathy towards you and supporting you, most people tend to go soft. 

“But if everyone is against you and saying ‘he's only getting this because of this,’ that only pushes you harder.”

Mother’s love, tough love

Watching mum and son share their shared passion, you cannot help but marvel at the unfiltered affection and a dose of some tough love.

“She is easy to talk to,” Zebra Jnr said of his mother, “It's easy and hard because you cannot be uneasy. 

“But it's good having someone who can tell you the hard truth even if you don't want to hear it. 

“So I think communication is really good between us because I tend to get lazy sometimes and she tells me that, oh, you need to do this and you need to work on this. 

“You need to make sure this goes through. You need to make sure that this paper goes through. You need to make sure that you wake up early in the morning. 

“Sometimes she knocks on my door early in the morning to wake me up, maybe to go for a run or training, or just checking up on me.” 

All the while mum is smiling, eyes proudly fixed on his son pouring his heart out for her. 

On the night before fight nights, mum ensures all is in place for her warrior. 

“Preparation is everything, and that includes relaxation,” she explained, “he has to be well organised from his mind to physical.” 

Zebra Snr & delayed justice 

You always felt an incomplete puzzle through every experience the two shared. That piece that started it all. The dad. The husband.

Zebra Snr met his death on December 30, 2020 at St Francis Zone, Bwaise III Parish, Kawempe division after being shot by operatives of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATT).

In his January 1, 2021 address, President Museveni revealed government security officers he deployed to search for people being mobilised to wreak havoc in Kampala had shot dead the pugilist. 

Museveni explained that he had deployed skilled soldiers in Kampala who had been facing off with the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and al-Shabaab in Somalia.

The president promised that UPDF would conduct investigations and bring those behind Zebra’s death to book but three years later, nothing has come of his promise.

When we contacted the Defence Public Information Officer, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, he promised to get back to us if and when he got any updates on the matter. There were no new developments on this by press time.

But According to Zebra Snr’s widow, “there is no investigation into Zebra's murder,” she said, “because on the same day when we buried Zebra, the president was on live TV and said he knows everything about it.

“No one has ever come out to tell us what happened on that day. That means there is no investigation.”

The only positive has been the president fulfilling his pledge to pay school fees for Zebra Snr’s children.

“I thank him for paying the school fees,” she appreciated, “he also promised to get me something for the business, like upkeep to run the whole family. But I've never received anything like that.”

Turning to Zebra Jnr, “Moving on, for me, is not an option,” he said, “it is not an option for us. The tragedy is painful, but it doesn't take away the future and everything.”

To keep his candle lit, the Zebra family will host a fourth memorial since his passing, with this year being the second involving a fight night.

“I think we should celebrate our loved ones that leave us other than just crying.

“All we need to do is make sure that the memories they left with us have no alternative.” 

Mum and son are focused on continued efforts with the area (Bwaise) authorities to further rid it of crime and helping young ones.

“We are also having to get the youth placements to different workstations, like into carpentry, into mechanics, electric engineering and all that,” said Zebra Jnr. 

“And also to those who are still in school, we are partnering with some of the schools around like Heritage. 

“Heritage offers half and full bursaries to some of our boxers. So this is why I tell you that we are stepping into the dream.” 

After the long sit-in at the house, we took an easy walk to the gym, about 200m away.

A larger than life mural of a smiling Zebra Snr welcomed us, space for a makeshift ring to the left and a visibly tired house they once lived in to the right.

It might not look like a proper gym since there is little to suggest there is any, but this is a sacred place for boxing. It is where it all started. It is also home to the Zebra Boxing Club.

Mr. Eazi and the good news

The club trains about 300 children, according to Zebra Jnr’s mum. The bigger dream is to have a fully fledged gym, complete with a world standard boxing ring.

And before the start of this year, it still looked like a far-fetched dream. But just recently - after Zebra Jnr was hosted on NTV Sport Knights - some good news came through.

Nigerian musician and entrepreneur, Mr. Eazi, through his Chop Gaming company, visited the gym and pledged to refurbish it, with an international standard ring the starting point. A great starting point!