African Union Boxers (That Missed the 76' Olympics)

VW,,,,,,Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,Jim Watt a class act.

Though Alexis Arguello had his number, I believe he would have carved up
Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini.

 

Trick Tank,

Ayub Kalule was from Uganda.
But he moved to Denmark in late 1975, and teamed up with Morgans Palle.
he moved in weight from Light Welterweight (139 lbs.) to Welterweight (147 lbs.)
He did skip the Pre-Olympics Tournament in Montreal 11/27/75 thru 12/1/75.

Since it appeared that the African Union was going to boycott the upcoming 1976
Olympics, Ayub Kallue turned Professional in April 1976.

His last amateur tournament was in an European Amateur Cup event, at the end of March 1976.
One-week later he was fighting in his first professional bout.

 

I didn't realize Jim Watt fought that far back.
1968 ABA Lightweight (132 lbs.) Champion

 

Titan,

Ayub Kalule couldn't make 139 lbs. (63.5 kg) anymore.
By early-1975 he was fighting at Welterweight 147 lbs. (67 kg).
Would have been great to see an amateur Kalule vs. Leonard bout though.

Some great stuff on Kalule, if you dig through his back-ground.

Morgan Palle, Kalule's manager tried to get Miguel Castellini (WBA Light Middleweight Champion)
to come to Denmark in March 1977, to give Kalule a shot at the title.

Ayub Kalule was only 7-0-0 (4 KO's), but was Ranked #10 by the WBA.

 

I still believe Ayub Kalule would have beaten Ray Leonard in 1976.
And also WBA Light Middleweight Champions Jose Luis Duran in late-1976
or Miguel Castellini in early-1977.

It's too bad they made him chase the title for over 2-years.

 

T-N-T

I think you could put Ayub Kalule as a great amateur, and a very good professional.
I have to search, but Kalule may have been offered a bout with Carlos Palomino
(non-title bout @ 151 lbs.)

April 1977, 10 Round non-title bout.

Ayub Kalule was 8-0-0 (5 KO's), and was Ranked #9 by the WBA at Light Middleweight.
Carlos Palomino, the WBC Welterweight Champion, had just beaten Armando Muniz in January 1977.
And was scheduled to fight Davey Boy Green in June 1977.
But Palomino was thinking about going after the WBA Light Middleweight Title too.

An open date was available for a CBS-TV fight.
Both agreed, but Palomino wanted the fight in California, and Kalule wanted it in Denmark.

The winner of the Palomino vs. Kalule (non-title bout) would have been offered a bout with
WBA Light Middleweight Champion, Eddie Gazo for the summer.