Mohamed (Muhammad) Muruli, born in Kichwamba in Kabarole, Uganda on July 14, 1947, remains one of the most prominent and respected Ugandan boxers.
At the African Amateur Boxing Championship, held in Lusaka in Zambia in June 1968, Muruli deftly displayed international promise, though he fell to the legendary Kenyan Philip Waruinge of Kenya in the final of the lightweight division; and therefore settled for the silver medal. Waruinge had also won gold at the African Boxing Championships held in Brazzaville in the Congo in 1965. Among Waruinge’s other accomplishments were fighting for Kenya in three Olympic Games (1964, 1968 and 1972), the last in which he won. bronze and silver, respectively. . Partly due to disappointment at the trial he deemed biased, Waruinge turned professional and fought in Osaka in Japan. He also won lightweight gold at the 1970 Commonwealth games in Edinburgh, in the final beating Deogratias Musoke of Uganda. A couple of years later, “Deo” Musoke died, allegedly from starvation and overtraining, in his quest to maintain his boxing division’s weight limit.
Naturally, Waruinge is remembered as one of Uganda’s biggest boxing rivals. It was a regular fixture in the frequent friendly boxing tournaments between Uganda and Kenya. Upon turning professional in Japan, Philip Waruinge became known as Waruinge Nakayama. He fought as a professional from 1973 to 1978, but his record, including losses in the pursuit of the world title and Japanese titles, is mediocre (14 wins, 10 losses, and 1 draw).
It was at the 1968 Olympics (October 12 – October 27) in Mexico City that the 21-year-old Muruli further showed off his international competence. Muruli would easily defeat, by decision, the first two opponents (South Americans) who were in his way; first Luis Muñoz of Chile (4-1), then high Armando Mendoza of Venezuela (5-0). Muruli’s next encounter, that one with Ronald Woodson “Ronnie” (“Mazel”) Harris of the United States would not be as satisfying. Skillful and 5’10 “(quite tall for a lightweight) Harris completely outpointed Muruli (5-0), and eliminating Muruli allowed him to settle for a respectable fifth, just a breath away from the race for the medal. bronze.
Harris would go on to become the eventual gold medalist, greatly surpassing his Eastern European (Romanian Calistrat Cutov [bronze], and then the Polish Józef Grudzien [silver]) both 5-0. Interestingly, Gruzdien still in the same massive category as a lightweight, had won gold at age 25 at the previous 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Harris would turn professional in 1971, he remained undefeated until 1978. In 1978 he challenged Argentine Hugo Pastor Corro for the WBC / WBA middleweight title, but lost by decision. Harris retired from boxing in August 1982, although he had won his last four bouts. Harris’s final tally as a professional is 35 wins (with 14 knockouts), 2 losses (1 knockout), 1 draw.
At the next major international contest … the Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 17-24, 1970, Muruli had become a light welterweight, the division in which he represented Uganda. In the quarterfinals, Muruli would overcome Guyanese Reginald Forde. The semi-finals then involved Muruli with a strong punch that caused the referee to stop the match with Ghanaian Odartey Lawson in the first round. In the final, Muruli beat Welshman Dave Davies 3-2. Finally, the Muruli gold, along with the golds of light flyweight James Odwori and heavyweight Benson Masanda; along with silver medals from flyweight Leo Rwabwogo and lightweight Deogratias Musoke would establish Uganda as Commonwealth Games boxing champions for the first time; therefore, a world powerhouse of boxing to be reckoned with.
The next major international challenge for Muruli came in June 1972 with the African Amateur Championship held in Nairobi in Kenya. Still as a light welterweight, in the final, 25-year-old Muruli would defeat the 22-year-old future African Games champion and then Nigerian national boxing coach Obisia Nwakpa.
Muruli, given his astonishing record, would logically be included in Uganda’s Olympic boxer medal hopes for the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany. Unfortunately, Romanian Calistrat Cutov, the former Olympic bronze medalist, outpointed Muruli in the first preliminary round.
Fortunately, again Mohamed Muruli was selected to represent Uganda in the next major international competition. It would be the prestigious Commonwealth Games, this time held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from January 24 to February 2, 1974. Once again Muruli had moved up in weight, and this time he would represent Uganda as a welterweight limit of 67 kg. . In the preliminary round, on January 26, 1974, Muruli skillfully eliminated Caleb Okech of Kenya on points. Similarly, in the quarterfinals, Muruli beat Carmen Rinke of Canada by a majority of points. Then came the semi-finals, and Muruli edged out Scottish Steven Cooney on points. In the final, Muruli beat Errol McKenzie from Wales; thus establishing Muruli as Uganda’s only two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. This record, as well as Muruli’s stance as one of Uganda’s toughest and most famous amateur boxers, has been kept intact for decades!
The next big outing for Muruli was the World Amateur Boxing Championship held in Havana in the last two weeks of August 1974. Welterweight Muruli did not do well at this prestigious event. In the first preliminary round, Muruli was eliminated in the third round by Kalevi Kosunen of Finland. His counterparts Ayub Kalule (gold medal winner) and Joseph Nsubuga (bronze medal winner) were the Ugandan trophy winners at the tournament.
At the African Amateur Championship held in Kampala in Uganda in November 1974, Muruli represented Uganda as a light middleweight. Muruli proved his worth and in the final he eliminated Ndom from Cameroon. Additional gold medals won by Ugandans James Odwori, Ayub Kalule, Vitalis Bbege and Mustapha Wasajja overwhelmingly established Uganda as the African amateur king. Thereafter, Muruli boxed sporadically, even becoming a coach for the Ugandan army boxing team. He is not on the team that was scheduled to represent Uganda at the 1976 Olympics that were held in Montreal in Canada. Uganda and many other countries boycotted these Games for political reasons. Muruli did not join the professional ranks, but many renowned or promising Ugandan boxers such as John Baker Muwanga, Ayub Kalule, Mustapha Wasajja, Cornelius Bbosa (Boza-Edwards), Joseph Nsubuga moved to Europe to join the professional ranks. Some fought to become world champions! As Africans became more and more professional and the rules of boxing became more and more protective of the fans, amateur boxing would never be the same again.
However, Mohamed Muruli, one of the most skilled and feared African boxers, constantly proved his worth. Muruli won numerous gold medals in local and international matches. And his record as the only Ugandan to win two Commonwealth Games boxing gold medals still stands!
Muruli’s son in London, Muhamad Muruli Jr., confirmed that the Ugandan boxer died in 1995 at Fort Portal in the Kabarole district.