Zebra Ssenyange JR on course to become boxing trailblazer

Isaac ‘Zebra’ Ssenyange Jr. is already up and running for the second round of the Kampala Fight Night, due on July 6.

The pugilist had a fairly successful maiden one on June 1 at Nakivubo Stadium. Considering how quickly he had it arranged, to have over 1,000 paid-up spectators must have been encouraging. Yet, for the 21-year-old boxer, Ssenyange is just starting on his dream of becoming a boxing trailblazer.

Beyond transforming his life, Ssenyange is on the long walk, upon which he wants his ilk (fellow boxers) to realize an improvement in their lives, too. In starting the Kampala Fight Night, a boxing event that is slated to happen every first Sunday of the month, Ssenyange had 16 fights.

A total of 32 fighters competed that night, including him, as he battled DR Congo’s Serge Djamba in a welterweight bout. Ssenyange won, even though he did not succeed in securing the knock-out, as he had hoped. But a unanimous decision by the judges confirmed how dominant he was in the fight.

While Ssenyange improved his professional boxing record to 5-0 (3 knock-outs), he insisted that although he dreams of having a glittering boxing career, the Kampala Fight Night is not about him.

“I have since realized that as boxers, we cannot just let others manage our affairs, while we remain bystanders. We must work towards improving our trade so that it enables us live better and fulfilling lives. So many boxers in this country have lived as paupers. We must change that. I must change that,” Ssenyange said.

Although still an emerging boxer, Ssenyange has chosen to become a boxing promoter as well; one that organizes fights for boxers, while also ensuring that they get rewarded regularly for their sweat.

Just at the June 1 event, Ssenyange ensured that every competing boxer went home with Shs 250,000 ($67). In addition, Ssenyange sees this as a start to greater tidings.

“Once we have as many boxing nights, where the public come out to watch us, then the sponsors will also come on board,” Ssenyange said.

Right now, Ssenyange said, that he is talking to a corporate company to support the Kampala Fight Night with locker-room bonus. He expects it to raise the stakes in the ring, where a winner can get an extra Shs 300,000 on top of the participation fee.

Notably, a host of socialites like Joshua Baraka, Rickman and Alien Skin attended the first event. This is the second successive major boxing event that Ssenyange is organizing and promoting.

In December 2024, in remembering his late Father (Isaac Zebra Ssenyange’s) fourth death anniversary, he organized a fight night in Bwaise, dubbed the Zebra Ssenyange (Mando) boxing memorial, which pulled huge crowds that paid.