John Mugabi
Encyclopedia
John "The Beast" Mugabi (born March 4, 1960) is a former boxer
and world Jr. Middleweight champion. A world traveller, Mugabi was a part of an early 1980s Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight division scene that also included Marvin Hagler
, Sugar Ray Leonard
, Thomas Hearns
, Wilfred Benítez
, Davey Moore
and Roberto Durán
, and, together with the aforementioned world champions, he was a part of an era that many boxing
fans rank as one of the most exciting times ever in the Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight divisions. His nickname
was The Beast.
Mugabi was born in Kampala
, Uganda
, where he started to box. He won a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
in Moscow.
, an expert in boxer marketing who landed Mugabi various fights in England and built his reputation there.
Mugabi won eight fights in Europe and then moved to the United States, setting up residence in Florida
. Over time he became a favorite of American tv
networks, scoring sensational knockouts of contenders such as Curtis Ramsey, Gary Guiden, former world champion Eddie Gazo
, Curtis Parker, Frank The Animal Fletcher, Nino Gonzalez and Earl Hargrove. Because of his ability to fight both at Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight, fans began to talk of the possibility of him challenging either world Jr. Middleweight champion Hearns or world Middleweight champion Hagler. Despite Mugabi being a mandatory contender for some time, a Hearns - Mugabi title match never materialised, as Hearns elected to move to Middleweight to challenge Marvin Hagler.
On his way to becoming the number one contender for the middleweight title of each of the three major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, and IBF), Mugabi ran roughshod over the division and finished each of his opponents inside the distance. Considering his streak and Hagler's tough battle with Hearns on April 15, 1985, some felt Mugabi had a shot at doing what eleven men before him could not: wresting Hagler's undisputed world middleweight title from him.
The fight between Hagler and Mugabi was set for November 14 of 1985. Due to injury, however, Hagler postponed the fight for four months.
The fight finally came up on March 10 of 1986, and it was the first fight televised by Showtime. Mugabi landed his share of blows to Hagler's head during the early rounds. The turning point came in the sixth round, when Hagler landed many heavy blows and staggered Mugabi. Mugabi fought back gamely but his early knockout wins left him ill-prepared for a long, tough fight. In the end it was Hagler who came out the victor, with a knockout in the eleventh round. Many boxing fans consider this to have been the toughest contest of Hagler's career.
After his first loss, Mugabi retired to Uganda and ballooned in weight to 190 lbs. In September 1986 he contacted Mickey Duff, stating that he was ready to fight again. Mugabi went down in weight and was given an opportunity by the WBC
to win their world Jr. Middleweight title, vacated by Hearns. Once again many fans favored him, this time against Duane Thomas, on December 5 of '86. However, Mugabi suffered a broken eye socket, the consequence of a punch with the thumb of Thomas' glove, in round three and the fight had to be stopped. Mugabi underwent optical surgery the next day to repair his injury.
Discouraged by two consecutive losses, Mugabi gained weight and did not fight for nearly fourteen months. In January 1988, he came back to fight Bryan Grant on the undercard of Mike Tyson's title defence against Larry Holmes. Mugabi won by quick knockout and set off on another knockout winning streak. He became number one contender for the WBC 154 lb title in August 1988 but could not land a fight with then champion Donald Curry. After Curry lost his title in an upset in early 1989, Mugabi was given another opportunity to become world champion by the WBC. On July 8 of that year, Mugabi finally made his dream come true, knocking out Curry's successor Rene Jacquot
in round one in Grenoble to become the WBC World Jr. Middleweight champion.
After two first round knockout wins against Ricky Stackhouse and Carlos Antunes, Mugabi, who by this time was having difficulty making the weight limit of 154 lbs, put his title on the line against Terry Norris
. When Norris downed the champion for the count with a right to the jaw, Mugabi received the dubious distinction as the second fighter, after Al Singer
, to both win and lose a world title by first round knockout when he was defeated by Norris.
Showing resilience, Mugabi resurfaced with two more wins and once again found himself fighting for a world title, facing Gerald McClellan
on November 20 of 1991 for the vacant WBO Middleweight Championship. Mugabi once again came out on the losing end, again by a first round knockout.
Mugabi then retired for 5 years and moved to Australia where he still resides and trains fighters. In 1996, he came back for the first of an eight fight comeback, but, apart from beating Jamie Wallace by a 12 round decision at the Gold Coast for the Australian Middleweight title, the comeback was undistinguished. After losing to Glenn Kelly by a knockout in eight on January 16 of 1999, Mugabi finally retired with a record of 42 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 39 wins by knockout.
His 26 fight knockout win streak stands as one of the longest knockout streaks ever in boxing.
In a comment posted on "The Sweet Science" blog in regard to the Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones Jr match in St. Petersburg, Florida, Mugabi wrote, "It's great to see that Tampa is still having boxing. I, John, am still sorry for letting my fans down that night. But all champions one day will get beaten. But one day I would love to come and watch some fights in the ring at Tampa. I might bring one of the fighters I train in Australia now."
Mugabi has a 20-year old daughter, Mildred Prudence Mugabi who lives in Tampa, Florida and he has another daughter who still resides in Kampala, Uganda named Mourine Kabasemera Mugabi.
of Cuba in the final.
.
His results were:
He was also a Gold medalist at the 1976 Junior World Championships, defeating Herol Graham
.
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and world Jr. Middleweight champion. A world traveller, Mugabi was a part of an early 1980s Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight division scene that also included Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
, Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
, Thomas Hearns
Thomas Hearns
Thomas "Hitman" Hearns is a retired American boxer. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra" and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns became the first boxer in history to win world titles in four divisions. He would also become the first fighter in history to win five world titles in five different divisions...
, Wilfred Benítez
Wilfred Benitez
Wilfred Benítez , is a Puerto Rican boxer. He is remembered best as a skilled and aggressive fighter with exceptional defensive abilities who won world championships in three separate weight divisions, and was the youngest world champion in boxing history at the age of 17...
, Davey Moore
Davey Moore (1980s)
Davey Moore was an American world champion boxer, the second of two boxers who shared the name in the late 20th century, and whose respective careers each ended with death by trauma around the age of thirty....
and Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego is a retired professional boxer from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. A versatile brawler in the ring, he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra" during his career....
, and, together with the aforementioned world champions, he was a part of an era that many boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
fans rank as one of the most exciting times ever in the Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight divisions. His nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
was The Beast.
Mugabi was born in Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, where he started to box. He won a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow.
Professional career
Soon afterwards he started as a professional on December 5, 1980 by knocking out Oemer Karadenis in round one in Kampala. Soon after that win, Mugabi moved to London where he became acquainted with boxing promoter Mickey DuffMickey Duff
Mickey Duff born 7 June 1929 in Krakow, Poland is a former British boxer, manager and promoter.Born Monek Prager in Krakow, Poland. His rabbi father saw the rise of the German Nazi party, so the family parents emigrated to England in the late 1930s.Having turned professional as a boxer illegally...
, an expert in boxer marketing who landed Mugabi various fights in England and built his reputation there.
Mugabi won eight fights in Europe and then moved to the United States, setting up residence in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Over time he became a favorite of American tv
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
networks, scoring sensational knockouts of contenders such as Curtis Ramsey, Gary Guiden, former world champion Eddie Gazo
Eddie Gazo
Eddie Gazo is a former professional boxer in the super welterweight division.-Pro career:...
, Curtis Parker, Frank The Animal Fletcher, Nino Gonzalez and Earl Hargrove. Because of his ability to fight both at Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight, fans began to talk of the possibility of him challenging either world Jr. Middleweight champion Hearns or world Middleweight champion Hagler. Despite Mugabi being a mandatory contender for some time, a Hearns - Mugabi title match never materialised, as Hearns elected to move to Middleweight to challenge Marvin Hagler.
On his way to becoming the number one contender for the middleweight title of each of the three major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, and IBF), Mugabi ran roughshod over the division and finished each of his opponents inside the distance. Considering his streak and Hagler's tough battle with Hearns on April 15, 1985, some felt Mugabi had a shot at doing what eleven men before him could not: wresting Hagler's undisputed world middleweight title from him.
The fight between Hagler and Mugabi was set for November 14 of 1985. Due to injury, however, Hagler postponed the fight for four months.
The fight finally came up on March 10 of 1986, and it was the first fight televised by Showtime. Mugabi landed his share of blows to Hagler's head during the early rounds. The turning point came in the sixth round, when Hagler landed many heavy blows and staggered Mugabi. Mugabi fought back gamely but his early knockout wins left him ill-prepared for a long, tough fight. In the end it was Hagler who came out the victor, with a knockout in the eleventh round. Many boxing fans consider this to have been the toughest contest of Hagler's career.
After his first loss, Mugabi retired to Uganda and ballooned in weight to 190 lbs. In September 1986 he contacted Mickey Duff, stating that he was ready to fight again. Mugabi went down in weight and was given an opportunity by the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
to win their world Jr. Middleweight title, vacated by Hearns. Once again many fans favored him, this time against Duane Thomas, on December 5 of '86. However, Mugabi suffered a broken eye socket, the consequence of a punch with the thumb of Thomas' glove, in round three and the fight had to be stopped. Mugabi underwent optical surgery the next day to repair his injury.
Discouraged by two consecutive losses, Mugabi gained weight and did not fight for nearly fourteen months. In January 1988, he came back to fight Bryan Grant on the undercard of Mike Tyson's title defence against Larry Holmes. Mugabi won by quick knockout and set off on another knockout winning streak. He became number one contender for the WBC 154 lb title in August 1988 but could not land a fight with then champion Donald Curry. After Curry lost his title in an upset in early 1989, Mugabi was given another opportunity to become world champion by the WBC. On July 8 of that year, Mugabi finally made his dream come true, knocking out Curry's successor Rene Jacquot
Rene Jacquot
Rene Jacquot is a former professional boxer and world title holder.-Professional career:Jacquot turned professional in 1983 and captured the WBC Light Middleweight Title in 1989 with an upset win over Donald Curry. He lost the belt in his first defence to John Mugabi, via TKO in the first round...
in round one in Grenoble to become the WBC World Jr. Middleweight champion.
After two first round knockout wins against Ricky Stackhouse and Carlos Antunes, Mugabi, who by this time was having difficulty making the weight limit of 154 lbs, put his title on the line against Terry Norris
Terry Norris
Terry Wayne Norris is a retired American boxer and a three-time world champion in the light middleweight division. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, he fought out of San Diego.-Early boxing career:...
. When Norris downed the champion for the count with a right to the jaw, Mugabi received the dubious distinction as the second fighter, after Al Singer
Al Singer
Al Singer was an American boxer. He was born in the Lower East Side in New York City....
, to both win and lose a world title by first round knockout when he was defeated by Norris.
Showing resilience, Mugabi resurfaced with two more wins and once again found himself fighting for a world title, facing Gerald McClellan
Gerald McClellan
Gerald McClellan is a former boxer from the United States of America, who was the WBO and WBC middleweight champion. McClellan's record as a professional boxer was 31 wins and 3 losses with 29 wins by knockout...
on November 20 of 1991 for the vacant WBO Middleweight Championship. Mugabi once again came out on the losing end, again by a first round knockout.
Mugabi then retired for 5 years and moved to Australia where he still resides and trains fighters. In 1996, he came back for the first of an eight fight comeback, but, apart from beating Jamie Wallace by a 12 round decision at the Gold Coast for the Australian Middleweight title, the comeback was undistinguished. After losing to Glenn Kelly by a knockout in eight on January 16 of 1999, Mugabi finally retired with a record of 42 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 39 wins by knockout.
His 26 fight knockout win streak stands as one of the longest knockout streaks ever in boxing.
In a comment posted on "The Sweet Science" blog in regard to the Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones Jr match in St. Petersburg, Florida, Mugabi wrote, "It's great to see that Tampa is still having boxing. I, John, am still sorry for letting my fans down that night. But all champions one day will get beaten. But one day I would love to come and watch some fights in the ring at Tampa. I might bring one of the fighters I train in Australia now."
Mugabi has a 20-year old daughter, Mildred Prudence Mugabi who lives in Tampa, Florida and he has another daughter who still resides in Kampala, Uganda named Mourine Kabasemera Mugabi.
Amateur career
Representing Uganda, Mugabi was the Silver medalist at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, boxing in the Welterweight (67 kg) class. Mugabi lost to Andrés AldamaAndrés Aldama
Andrés Aldama Cabrera was a Cuban boxer, who won the light welterweight silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the Welterweight gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics....
of Cuba in the final.
.
His results were:
- George Koffi (Congo) won by KO 1
- Paul Rasanimanana (Madagascar) won by KO 1
- Memet Bogujevci (Yugoslavia) won by KO 1
- Kazimierz SzczerbaKazimierz SzczerbaKazimierz Wiesław Szczerba was a Polish boxer, who won a Light Welterweight Bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and a Welterweight Bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics....
(Poland) won by KO 1 - Andrés AldamaAndrés AldamaAndrés Aldama Cabrera was a Cuban boxer, who won the light welterweight silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the Welterweight gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics....
(Cuba) lost PTS
He was also a Gold medalist at the 1976 Junior World Championships, defeating Herol Graham
Herol Graham
Herol 'Bomber' Graham was born in Nottingham, England on 13 September 1959 and is generally acknowledged as one of the best British boxers of the post-war era never to have won a world title....
.