James Odwori: Uganda’s most decorated and exciting amateur boxer
James Odwori, born on October 23, 1951, is said to have been born in Kenya, where later as a retired boxer, Odwori became a coach of the Kenyan prison boxing team and later became a coach of the Kenyan national team. Kenyan boxing.
A relatively tall boxer for a light flyweight, the young Odwori established himself as an international boxing phenomenon by winning the gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games (held July 17–24, 1970) in Edinburgh, Scotland. . At the quarter-final level, Odwori beat Anthony Kerr of Scotland, on points on July 20, 1970. Odwori went on to the semi-finals where he beat Mickey Abrams of England on points on July 22, 1970. Finally, Odwori, of 20 years, passed to the final end. Here Odwori defeated Anthony Davies of Wales, winning on points on July 24, 1970.
Boxing in the tournaments between Kenya and Uganda, and at the East African and Central African Championships, Odwori would establish himself as an excellent knockout specialist. In June 1972 the African Boxing Championships were held in Nairobi, Kenya. Odwori won gold in the light flyweight division, in the final by defeating Saad of Sudan. Uganda would take home five gold medals (won by Odwori, Peter Odhiambo, Mohamed Muruli, Martin Akuba and Benson Masanda); and two silver medals (won by John Opio and George Mathias Ouma).
Odwori’s biggest challenge would be the 1972 Olympics, where, naturally, James Odwori would be considered a great medal hope for Uganda. At 5’7″ (170 cm), the young Odwori was quite tall for a light flyweight. Both his height and long reach were added advantages. On August 28, 1972, in their first preliminary fight, Odwori displayed his prowess by technically knocking out two inches shorter Filipino Vicente Arsenal via second-round stoppage by the referee in round 2. The next of their bouts came on September 2, and Odwori expertly stopped 5′ 2 ” Egyptian Said Ahmed El-Ashry in the second round. However, in the following quarterfinal bout on September 7, Odwori was knocked out by North Korea’s 5′ 4″ Kim U-Gil (who ultimately won the silver medal), leaving Odwori out of contention for the medal, only allowing Odwori to settle for a respectable 5th place.
A relative newcomer to the Olympics, Odwori would represent Uganda at the 1973 All African Games held in Lagos, Nigeria from January 7–18, again as a light flyweight (48 kg). In the preliminaries, Odwori eliminated Senegal’s Babak Fall by second-round knockout. In the quarterfinals, Odwori defeated Tanzanian Bakari Salamani with a second-round TKO! Then, Samuel Eke of Nigeria succumbed to James Odwori via third-round technical knockout. And finally, in the gold medal bid, the lanky Odwori defeated the Ghanaian Young Chucks by first-round TKO. Odwori had established himself as an international force to be reckoned with!
These were busy and productive years for Ugandan boxing! Then came the Commonwealth Games, held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from January 24 to February 2, 1974. Moving on to the quarter-finals, James Odwori cleverly knocked out Bakari Selemani of Tanzania in round 2. In the semi-finals On January 31, Odwori outpointed Singaporean Syed Abdul Kadir. It is significant that by winning the bronze medal, Kadir became the first person from Singapore to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games for his country. To this day, Kadir remains Singapore’s most celebrated boxer. The next day in the final, 23-year-old Odwori would be outpointed by 17-year-old Stephen (Steve) Muchoki (standing only 5’3″ tall) from Kenya. Odwori, standing 5’7″ tall “, therefore he had to settle for the silver medal, a level of medal he was not used to. Thus, Odwori was unable to defend the Commonwealth Games title which he had won four years earlier. Significantly, Muchoki is by far the most decorated boxer in Kenyan history. Among Muchoki’s achievements was the additional gold medal won in the light flyweight boxing division, at the next Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada, 1978).
At the World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Havana, Cuba in 1974 (August 17-30), light flyweight Muchoki was defeated in the final by Cuban Jorge Hernández and settled for the silver medal. James Odwori, at flyweight, was at these championships. This was disappointing for Odwori, Odwori’s teammates, and for Uganda in general. Odwori became one of two boxers disqualified from competing for exceeding the weight limit! Ironically, Odwori had recently moved up in the weight division, from light flyweight where Steve Muchoki remained. Odwori’s disqualification allowed his potential opponent Felipe Rojas of Argentina to advance smoothly to the next round. The skilled Kenyan Muchoki would go on to win light flyweight gold in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where the next World Amateur Boxing Championships were held. And this time Muchoki outpointed Jorge Hernández, the same opponent he had faced in the final of the same tournament four years earlier! Muchoki was scheduled to fight at the 1976 Olympics held in Montreal, but Kenya withdrew from the Olympics for political reasons, leaving the first round an easy win for Alican Az of Turkey. Az was eliminated by Korea’s Park Chan-Hee in the second round. Jorge Hernandez from Cuba would eliminate Park Chan-Hee in the next round and eventually become the gold medalist! The same Jorge Hernández who would later be the most remembered, and international rival! of Muchoki. Interestingly, James Odwori is not listed as scheduled to represent Uganda. In 1976, the Amin regime that he presided over was losing steam and was coming under intense international scrutiny and antagonism. Government attention to sports had similarly declined, with many of Uganda’s leading boxers not on the team, having left the country, preparing to turn professional, or becoming disillusioned due to inadequate training or care. The political and economic situation became unfavorable for national sport, as in other areas. The Amin diet was overthrown in 1979.
The next African Amateur Boxing Championship was held in November 1974 in Kampala, Uganda; a family home territory of countless Odwori enthusiasts and other Ugandan competitors. This time Odwori had moved up to the next weight division, flyweight (51 kg). In the final bout, Odwori outpointed Isaac Kuria Maina of Kenya. Once again, Uganda overwhelmingly displayed African dominance, in addition to gold medals won by Ayub Kalule, Vitalis Bbege, Mohamed Muruli and Mustapha Wasajja. For their part, the Ugandans Ali Rojo and Jacob Odonga (who was months before in the preliminaries of the World Boxing Championship held in August, knocked out by Leon Spinks who would win Olympic Gold in 1976 in Montreal; two years later Leon Spinks defeated Mohammed Ali in contention for the world heavyweight crown) settled for silver medals.
Based on his domestic and international appearances and victories, given his skill and style, James Odwori in the 1970s established a fine amateur track record that has never been equaled by any other Ugandan boxer. James Odwori stands out significantly as Uganda’s most exciting and highly decorated amateur boxer, even after decades.