The Uganda national boxing team, (Bombers) head coach Patrick Lihanda believes he has good boxers who will deliver success to the country at the ongoing African Games in Ghana.
Of the seven boxers representing the country, Shalua Ndagire has already bowed out while debutant Innocent Tumusiime is already assured of at least a bronze medal after storming semi-finals on Sunday.
The rest of the five boxers are at quarters with captain Muzamir Semuddu and Kasim Murungi in action this Monday against Ghana opponents.
Lihanda, who was a top boxer in the 80s, represented Uganda in all major championships, including the Olympics in 1984 and 1988 in Korea and USA respectively, the world boxing championship, and the All Africa Games in 1987 where he won Uganda a middleweight gold medal from Nairobi, Kenya.
Lihanda, who is also the Uganda Boxing Federation technical vice president, seeks to have at least one of his boxers take home a gold medal to replicate his 1987 performance.
“I feel humbled to be at the African Games as a coach, having won gold in 1987 from the All Africa games in Kenya. I want to be a double winner – as a boxer and as a coach,” noted Lihanda, who also returned to the Olympics as a coach in 2020.
The other boxers representing Uganda at the 13th African Games are Owen Kibira and Erina Namutebi, who are in action on Tuesday against Tunisia’s Zakaria Romdhani and Cynthia Ogunsemilore respectively in the quarterfinals.
Amoko Innocent takes on a more experienced and exposed Jugurtha Ait Bekka in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
