Before turning pro, famous Ugandan boxer John Paul “the Beast” Mugabi was simply John Mugabi, a young, hard-hitting, fast and promising boxer. After his silver medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Mugabi, 20, looked at the professional scene. Renowned British coach and manager Mickey Duff noticed Mugabi and quickly enlisted him. Duff is one of many (including Ugandan Charles Lubulwa, who participated in 3 Olympic tournaments) who believe that Mugabi’s gold medal was stolen. In the professional ranks, Mugabi’s ferocity, strength and speed in the ring earned him the nickname “the Beast,” one that Mugabi has expressed as unflattering, but which the world got stuck referring to.

It was at Sacred Heart Parish in Nogales in Arizona that Mugabi, while training for what would become his most epic battle, with world middleweight champion “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler on March 10, 1986, Mugabi acquired the name of Paul after baptism. in Catholicism (Clive Gammon, “This Beast Is a Beauty”, in ‘Sports Illustrated’; March 3, 1986).

The semi-arid city of Nogales de Nogales, which straddles the border with Mexico, is the largest border city in Arizona. Tiny Rio Rico is ten miles north of Nogales, and it is here at the Sheraton Hotel that a Mugabi training ground was set up in preparation for the Hagler encounter. Mugabi’s coach, central to his baptism, was Father Anthony Clark himself, the parish priest.

In 1976, 16-year-old Mugabi won a silver welterweight medal after losing to American Herol Graham at the World Junior Amateur Boxing Championships. Interestingly, just weeks before Mugabi’s battle with Hagler, Graham dethroned Ugandan Ayub Kalule from the European middleweight title after knocking him out in the 10th round. This fight would spell the end of Kalule’s illustrious boxing career. Many have wondered what the outcome of a fight between Kalule and Mugabi would have been. There is an age difference of 6 years, and Kalule had been an idol and mentor to the young Mugabi in Kampala.

The 1976 Olympics, held in Montreal, were boycotted by many nations, including Uganda. Ayub Kalule had been scheduled to fight for Uganda. He became a professional boxer. And so did his teammate Cornelius Bbosa, who would later become widely known as Cornelius Bosa (Boza) Edwards, and would go on to become junior lightweight world champion.

The climax of the Games in Montreal was the welterweight boxing division finals on July 31, 1976. Young American “Sugar” Ray Leonard, who planned to stop boxing and continue school at the University of Maryland, faced a stronger one. and tallest Cuban with a stellar knockout record. This Andrés Aldama, who had knocked out his five previous opponents, was expected to win. But Leonard, similar to Muhammad Ali in his previous career, adopted a “hit and run” strategy, and elusively frustrated and enraged the Cuban. As the Cuban charged, Leonard threw a quick combination of solid, accurate punches and then retreated. It was like a David-Goliath massacre, which even involved the Cuban being shot down, plus two mandatory recounts were made.

The Moscow Olympic finals of the welterweight division in boxing, on August 2, 1980, marked the second coming of the experienced and feared Andrés Aldama. Recent accolades include a gold medal at the Pan African Games held in Puerto Rico the previous year. Aldama’s opponent, John Mugabi, at 20, was 4 years younger, much less experienced, and much less tested and known than he was. Each of the two boxers had knocked out four out of five of their previous Olympic boxing opponents. John Mugabi was the remaining gold prospect in Uganda.

In the first round Mugabi proved to be the most active. He threw a lot of punches, but tall southpaw Aldama kept most at bay, most missing their mark. Aldama seemed to be studying his opponent, evaluating him. The judges probably gave this round to Mugabi, just for the effort.

The second round saw Aldama rise from his stool fighting hard and determined. He gained confidence as the round progressed, throwing hard headshots on Mugabi several times. Towards the end of the round, he briefly tripped Mugabi. But Mugabi fought back bravely, obviously with no intention of giving in. And like most capable lefties, Aldama occasionally confuses Mugabi by switching to boxing’s orthodox stance.

The third round was a war. Mugabi was landing blows to the head in the fight, but Aldama’s delivery was noticeably more significant. Aldama was also more precise. Mugabi was weary from the experience and the stiff, solid blows. He didn’t give in to a knockdown, but a hypothetical fourth round would likely have resulted in Mugabi being knocked out. Mugabi always had the strength and the heart, but the ineffectiveness in defending himself was his main weakness in his career.

The referee declared the fight a deserved 4-1 in favor of Aldama. The entire fight is available on U-Tube. Thirty years later, the legendary John Mugabi remains the last Ugandan to win an Olympic boxing medal.