Only one journalist-moreover without a camera-attended John Munduga’s requiem mass on September 15. No one represented the government, and after Fr Marvin Lukyamuzi’s service, only two speeches were allowed. Not that people didn’t know about Munduga’s death. They just didn’t understand the man, arguably Uganda’s most gifted boxer ever.
Munduga, who slipped to death in his humble Naguru Go-Down hood, on September 13, aged 64, deserved more praise than we offered.
The requiem could not be in a better place than St Jude Church-where he was baptised as a child in the 60s-on the same campus as his primary school, in Naguru, his hood as a child and when he reverted after his American and European adventures. Still, many of his kith and kin didn’t show up for the Monday morning mass. Or the seven-hour journey to Media, Koboko, where he was buried.
The renowned John is Mugabi, the Beast, but few know that Munduga was not only his childhood friend, but also his sparring partner when both were under the legendary promoter Mickey Duff’s stable.
‘Mugabi lacked the discipline of serious training. And people don’t know that it’s Munduga who stretched him and brought out the best of him during sparring,’ their mutual friend John Bosco Waigo told me.
At some point, these namesakes and knockout artists shared world title dreams, but after both lost their most important fights in 1986, their legacies took opposite paths in ways hard to fathom.
The Breland setback
We forgot Munduga who knitted a 24-0 (18 KOs) record from Germany to USA until his agonising TKO loss to Mark Breland in June 1986 at the Sands Casino Hotel in New Jersey.
Prior, Munduga was among the top ten contenders for the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title and the WBC junior-middleweight title.
Meanwhile, Breland, two years younger, was a man on his own mission. Arguably America’s greatest amateur boxer of all-time, he had capped his stellar amateur career of 110-1 (73 KOs) with welterweight gold at the 1984 Olympics.
Now as a professional, with 12 straight wins, Breland was rated as “the next Sugar Ray Leonard.” He didn’t match the billing. But a year after stopping Munduga in the sixth of 10 rounds, he clinched the WBA world title, lost it, won it again and retained it multiple times until he lost it again to Aaron Davis in 1990.
And he sits among Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Joe Frazier in the USA Boxing Alumni Association Hall of Fame. But what if Munduga had defeated him? Well, those are might-have-beens.
Amateur peak
We forgot a man who dedicated his entire life to boxing since the age of 11, at KCC Boxing Club, almost until his demise.
A man who dominated the local amateur scene before conquering Europe.
A man arguably Uganda’s best amateur in the late 70s. A man who tempted legendary coach Peter Sseruwagi to bend the rules and summon him to the national team before he was 18.
A man who won bronze on his international debut-at the King’s Cup in Thailand-where his seniors Vicky Byarugaba and James Ochaya bagged gold.
In January 1978, Munduga won gold at the Uganda-Poland Duals in Kampala but missed a medal at the 1978 All-Africa Games in Algiers, where Byarugaba won gold, and Lodovico Owiny got bronze.
But in November, Munduga avenged with gold at the Feliks Stamm Memorial tournament in Warsaw, Poland, his first of three victories coming against Cuba’s Jose Luis Rios. He also bagged the best young boxer award.
In February 1979, Munduga and Adroni Butambeki were the only Ugandans, among 11, who won their bouts in the Germany-Uganda Duals in Schwerin.
At the Poland-Uganda Duals in Warsaw, Munduga again won, alongside three Ugandans, when the likes of Mugabi, Odwori, etc. lost. And it was no surprise when he retained his Felix Stamm gold in November.
So, how did we forget our most in-form boxer ahead of the Moscow 1980 Olympics?
Is it because his Moscow campaign ended prematurely in his second bout against Iraqi Farouk Jawad? But who didn’t fail except Mugabi, who got silver?
Ugandan fighter syndrome?
Munduga was never the same after that Breland knockout. But he is not the only Ugandan foreign-based fighter who struggled after a high profile defeat.
Winning the WBC title three years after that punishing defeat to Marvin Hagler can exonerate Mugabi. But clearly, he was no longer the Beast that had knocked out 26 opponents before Hagler stopped him in March 1986.
After losing his WBA junior-middleweight title to Sugar Ray Leonard in June 1981, Ayub Kalule won 10 of his last 13 bouts, but never regained his best shape and again lost the challenge for WBA title to Davey Moore in 1982.
As Kalule’s star was dimming, another Ugandan, Mustapha Wasajja, was rising. At 24-0, he was on the verge of greatness. But after losing the WBA light heavyweight title shot to defending champion Michael Spinks by TKO in the sixth round, in February 1982, he was done. He lost his next two fights and retired with lots of unfulfilled dreams.
Enter Arthur Serwano, whose career was virtually ended by that tragic first-minute knockout by Roy Jones Jr in 1992. The former IBF USBA super welterweight champ won just three of his last seven bouts, ending in 1996, aged 31.
My friend Sharif Bogere cannot be missed from this list. Arguably Munduga’s best student, Bogere was coasting in Vegas, with a clean 23-0 record when he met Cuban Richar Abril for the WBA Lightweight title in March 2013.
During a middle round, Bogere re-injured his Achilles tendon which partly cost him his first world title shot.
After surgery, Bogere would return a year later and won all his nine bouts. But the Lion never roared closer to any title, again.
Despite those career shocks, we still celebrated those gallant fighters, except Munduga and Serwano. But why?
Victim of own privacy?
Like Kalule and Serwano, Munduga preferred a private life. Thanks to his world championship status at amateur and professional levels, Kalule is duly documented. But Munduga and Serwano were unduly forgotten.
Should they have tried to rebrand beyond the ring? Serwano did. After failing to revive his boxing career, despite relocating to Nevada in 2000, he studied aviation engineering in Georgia, a job he did until Parkinson’s disease shackled him in 2020 and finished him in March 2024.
The job earned him a decent post-ring life. But never the fame he once had as the Jesus Kid. Sadly, he’s only remembered for his KO defeat to Jones Jr. Neither famous in the US nor in Uganda.
Is it because he avoided Uganda since his exile in 1985? That even when he visited in 2016 nobody noticed? Maybe not. Because after surrendering his American dream, Munduga stopped over in Europe, before reverting to Naguru Go-Down in the early 90s.
Having lost his investments like K and K, a discotheque he co-owned with Dick Katende and Mugabi, Munduga resorted to shaping dreams of younger boxers. 2004 Olympian Jolly Katongole and Nevada-based Bogere are the most popular products of his Kololo High School stable that had previously groomed Godfrey Nyakana, 1988 Olympian Waigo, etc.
But for nearly three decades, Munduga coached countless boxers. Jackson Asiku, Peter Okello, Adam Kassim, Sam Rukundo, etc. Many live large in Europe, Asia and America.
‘Whatever I do as a coach, whether technical or managerial, I learnt it from Munduga,’ said Sam Kabugo, who was in Senior Four in 1994 when Munduga became Kololo’s coach, after Israel Mwanje died in 1993.
Kabugo has coached at Kololo and the national level. Others, like Alex Mangeni, became ring officials. But their mentor? We didn’t care.
Maybe, Munduga didn’t help his own cause, his friend Waigo thinks. He would take boxers to national amateur championships or professional fights. But it was easier finding a needle in a haystack than a single media quote from Munduga. Sporting trainers, baggy trousers, loose t-shirts and a cap, he hardly drew any attention. And he liked it that way. His lanky frame never got close to the corners, ‘because despite his knowledge, he lacked the coaching certification,’ Waigo, a seasoned coach in England, told me.
Hence, Munduga’s credit went to his deputies, most of whom his students.
‘No one like him’
‘Coach Munduga made me what I am. The other coaches just supplemented his work. But without him, I wouldn’t be here,’ Moses Mukiibi, a professional boxer told me. ‘And whenever I got money from a fight, I bought him stuff, first thing. He’s like my father.’
When Munduga’s health deteriorated, after being diagnosed with acute diabetes, Mukiibi was the first to tell others, ‘because we were always in touch. He wanted me to fight in America.there will be no one like him.’
Muhammed Ali Sserunkuma shares the feeling. ‘He taught me how to throw the first jab; everything I know about boxing.’
Skills aside, Mukiibi said, Munduga emphasised discipline. ‘And he commanded respect from everybody in the club. Just one word of his instantly stopped an altercation.’
Many could leave Kololo for bigger clubs like KBC. But Munduga didn’t lose contact with his students, even those abroad. ‘He was particular about style,’ Sserunkuma said. ‘Before I fought Rohan Date in Dubai, he told me ‘Always keep your eyes on your opponent, that’s your ultimate guard.’ And be the ring boss, the rest will be easy. I lost the fight on points but everyone knew I won.’
Sserunkuuma also learnt mind games. ‘Coach said threatening a KO in a particular round, saying words the opponent couldn’t understand while in the ring, can affect the opponent’s focus to your advantage.’ Didn’t such a man deserve more respect?
Dream that never was
Breland broke Munduga’s nose, his terrific run, and his love for boxing. But 20 months later, Munduga returned to Florida, daring to dream again. He had retreated to Uganda when he and his wife Agnes Makuza welcomed their second child-Francisco Delgado Munduga-in May 1987.
Preparing to face Darrin “Schoolboy” Van Horn in February 1988, Munduga reviewed the Breland debacle. ‘From the second round, I could not see good, you know. So I just went through up to sixth round.’
Going into the Breland fight, promoter Duff added, Munduga had ‘all the skills and the ability necessary to win a world title.’
And even ahead of the Van Horn encounter, Munduga expressed some hope for a title shot.
He also downplayed his long absence: ‘Guys retire for four to five years but return and win their fights,’ he said in a YouTube video. “So I’m feeling okay for the fight. No Problem. I win this one, which I should, then I will be ready to fight for a world title anytime,’ he vowed.
Promoter Duff was equally confident: ‘I wouldn’t take this fight or any other fight if I’m not sure I’m gonna show up to win.’
Van Horn was a student at the University of Kentucky, and the match happened at Hilton Hotel, Frankfort, on the university campus.
Trained and managed by his father, at 19, he was seven years younger than Munduga, but had more ring experience and a superior record-unbeaten in 34 (21 KOs).
Both traded leather with admirable speed, precision and mobility. Then at the start of the seventh round, one of the commentators warned: ‘We’ve entered the moment where we have to worry about ring rust.’ Van Horn had defeated Joe Summers by unanimous decision in the past two months. But Munduga had not fought in 14 months since defeating Alvaro Granillo in December 1986.
The commentators’ worries were valid. Munduga landed some good shots but towards the last minute of the seventh round, Van Horn retaliated with lethal body shots and uppercuts that sent Munduga to the ropes. He gave him no breather, poking his ribs and jaws until the referee intervened. Munduga, back against the ropes, didn’t go down. But the ref said: enough.
The Schoolboy won the junior-middleweight bout by a seventh-round TKO. The following year, he won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title.
Meanwhile, that was Munduga’s last fight in the US. One fight in Germany and two more in Belgium were futile shots at redemption. He quit before he turned 29.
Present father
I had always wondered if Munduga had any children, until Francis, who follows Sharon Katende Munduga, and Andrew Cohen Muhenda, were introduced during the service.
Due to his financial struggles, you would pardon Munduga for being an absent father. But he wasn’t.
‘He was the best father. He gave me everything. We used to play with him, even boxing even though I was a small boy,’ Muhenda, a UPDF private, aged 35, told me, his eyes red and teary.
‘He was my best friend; often called to check on me. One time, he called and asked: are you married? I said ‘not yet.’ He asked ‘what are you waiting for?’ Now I have a child.’
Francis, 38, an accountant, remembers his father as ‘a very funny man, whose jokes made everyone around him laugh.’ A man with a good heart, ‘who pushed us, and our cousins to higher education.’
Munduga’s siblings were the first beneficiaries. ‘It was his money that paid our school fees,’ his sister Jane Bamu told me.
Francis told me that Munduga fondly spoke about life with Mugabi in America. ‘Dad’s biggest regret was missing a medal at the Olympics.’
But Munduga didn’t stress over money. ‘He is someone who got Shs10,000 and gave you Shs9000. From childhood, he told me ‘my son, never be obsessed with money.’
Francis knew his father’s passion for coaching, which even took him to Rwanda in the early 2000s, was endless. ‘I wish I constructed him a gym where he would continue his coaching work.’
Legends’ nod
Asked about the best African boxer Duff ever worked with, the legendary promoter quickly said Munduga. It triggered debate: not Mugabi, Lottie Mwale, or Boza-Edwards? Many, including ex-world champ Lloyd Honeyghan, wondered.
‘But Duff told us that while others were hard punchers and won big, Munduga was the most technically gifted,’ Waigo reiterated a story he first shared when we visited veteran administrator Celestine Mindra at his Luzira home in May.
‘Munduga’s technical ability is what made him a knockout artist. His only problem was a weak jaw. He couldn’t take a punch,’ Waigo explained.
John Siryakibbe, another KCC BC product and two-time Olympian, said: ‘Munduga inspired me into boxing. He made it look easy. He could jab, dance, feint, and hook with a lot of ease.’
Sseruwagi, one of Africa’s greatest coaches, lauded Munduga as ‘the most talented I ever coached.’ Sadly, that’s the man we ignored!
Place of Birth: Naguru Quarters
Born: January 15, 1961
Died: September 13, 2025
Age: 64
Father: Gilda Yobuta
Mother: Regina Adiye
Children: Sharon Munduga, Francis Delgado Munduga and Andrew Cohen Muhenda
Buried: Media, Koboko