Ayub Kalule
Age: 70
Birthplace: Kampala, Uganda
Ayub Kalule (born 6 January 1954) is a retired boxer from Uganda, who first came to prominence when he won the Amateur World Welterweight Title at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba. He turned professional and based himself in Denmark, and went on to win the light-middleweight championship. He subsequently lost the title to Sugar Ray Leonard.
Born in Kampala, he began his professional boxing career in 1976 when he won a four round decision over Kurt Hombach in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kalule would be based out of Denmark for the rest of his career. He then won 29 more victories, achieving 30 wins, 0 losses. Included in those victories were defeats of Alipata Korovou for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title and a 10 round decision of former US Gold Medalist Sugar Ray Seales.
On 24 October 1979, Kalule travelled to Akita, Japan to take on Masashi Kudo for the WBA Junior middleweight Championship of the world. Kalule easily outboxed the champion and thus captured the coveted world championship belt. He then successfully defended the title four times before taking on the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard on 25 June 1981 in the Houston Astrodome. A virtual unknown in the United States, Kalule was considered little more than a courier waiting to deliver the belt to Leonard. The fight proved much more difficult for Leonard as Kalule repeatedly landed straight lefts and fought on an almost even ground for the first five or six rounds. Slowly Leonard started to take control and in the 9th round ended the fight and Kalule's reign as WBA Champion.
Kalule fought on until the beginning of 1986 and managed to win the European Middleweight Title and defend it successfully against future world champion Sumbu Kalambay. Prior to that, he received another shot at the WBA Jr Middleweight Title held at that time by Davey Moore. Kalule put up a very good fight, but again was KO'd, this time in the 10th round. Ayub's career ended on 5 February 1986 when he lost the European Middleweight Title to Herol Graham. He finished his career with a very impressive record of 46-4 with 24 KOs.
Professional boxing record
46 Wins (23 knockouts, 23 decisions), 4 Losses (4 knockouts, 0 decisions) | |||||||
Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
Loss | Herol Graham | TKO | 10 | 5 February 1986 | Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, United Kingdom | ||
Win | Sumbu Kalambay | SD | 12 | 19 December 1985 | Ancona, Italy | ||
Win | Pierre Joly | TKO | 8 | 20 June 1985 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Mauro Fernandez | TKO | 4 | 9 March 1985 | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Lindell Holmes | PTS | 8 | 9 November 1984 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Wayne Caplette | TKO | 3 | 5 October 1984 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Jimmy Price | TKO | 1 | 25 April 1984 | Alexandra Pavilion, Muswell Hill, England, United Kingdom | ||
Loss | Mike McCallum | RTD | 7 | 13 November 1982 | Sands Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | ||
Loss | Davey Moore | TKO | 10 | 17 July 1982 | Bally's Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | ||
Win | Oscar Albarado | TKO | 2 | 30 April 1982 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Jacques Chinon | PTS | 10 | 26 February 1982 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | O'Dell Leonard | PTS | 8 | 13 November 1981 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Andoni Amana | PTS | 10 | 9 October 1981 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Loss | Sugar Ray Leonard | TKO | 9 | 25 June 1981 | Astrodome, Houston, Texas, United States | ||
Win | Pat Hallacy | PTS | 10 | 5 March 1981 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Bushy Bester | UD | 15 | 6 September 1980 | Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark | ||
Win | Marijan Benes | UD | 15 | 12 June 1980 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Emiliano Villa | RTD | 11 | 17 April 1980 | Brøndby Hall, Brøndby, Denmark | ||
Win | Steve "Young" Gregory | UD | 15 | 6 December 1979 | Brøndby Hall, Brøndby, Denmark | ||
Win | Masashi Kudo | UD | 15 | 24 October 1979 | City Gymnasium, Akita City, Japan | ||
Win | David "Free" Love | PTS | 10 | 6 September 1979 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | "Sugar" Ray Hammond | PTS | 8 | 28 June 1979 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Obdulio Rogelio Zarza | PTS | 10 | 24 May 1979 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Monty Betham | TKO | 4 | 15 March 1979 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Ho Joo | KO | 2 | 15 February 1979 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Kevin Finnegan | UD | 10 | 7 December 1978 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Sugar Ray Seales | MD | 10 | 9 November 1978 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Reggie Ford | KO | 5 | 14 September 1978 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Milton "Black Widow" Owens | TKO | 6 | 10 August 1978 | Glyngoere Hallen, Glyngoere, Denmark | ||
Win | Al Korovou | TKO | 14 | 25 May 1978 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Idrissa Konate | TKO | 7 | 27 April 1978 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Tsutomu Hagusa | TKO | 3 | 16 March 1978 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Johnny "The Mad" Baldwin | PTS | 10 | 2 March 1978 | Vejle, Denmark | ||
Win | "G.I." Jose Hernandez | TKO | 5 | 9 February 1978 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Rennie Pinder | PTS | 10 | 26 January 1978 | Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway | ||
Win | Bonifacio Avila | TKO | 4 | 5 January 1978 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Ralph Palladin | PTS | 10 | 8 December 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Miguel Castellini | TKO | 3 | 3 November 1977 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Alvin Anderson | TKO | 9 | 6 October 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | "Boxing" Rudy Robles | PTS | 10 | 8 September 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Elisha Obed | PTS | 10 | 2 June 1977 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | Jose Luis Duran | TKO | 7 | 28 April 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Arnoldo Olivares | TKO | 6 | 31 March 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Mimoun Mohatar | PTS | 10 | 24 February 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Damiano Lassandro | TKO | 3 | 20 January 1977 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Larry Paul | KO | 2 | 9 December 1976 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | "Boxing" Gualberto Fernandez | KO | 1 | 19 November 1976 | Randers Hallen, Randers, Denmark | ||
Win | "Boxing" Trevor Francis | PTS | 6 | 9 October 1976 | Copenhagen Forum, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Wayne "Newton" Bennett | KO | 5 | 3 June 1976 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Win | Kurt Hombach | PTS | 4 | 8 April 1976 | K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark |