He was abducted at the age of five and forced to kill as a boy soldier for Ugandan rebels. He escaped to America, where he became a world champion in boxing.
Kassim Ouma is a Ugandan professional boxer. He held the IBF junior middleweight title from 2004 to 2005 and has challenged twice for a world middleweight title in 2006 and 2011.
Ouma was born into extreme poverty in Uganda on December 12th, 1978. His young childhood was filled with struggle, but nothing compared to what happened when he was six years old. When Ouma was six years old, he was kidnapped and taken away from his family and forced to join the National Resistance Army.
As a result of this kidnapping and forced entry into the army as a child soldier, Ouma wouldn’t see his family for five years. During his time in the army, he was exposed to unthinkable things and has even said that he did, in fact, kill numerous people.
In 1986, after Museveni seized power and the war was ceased, Ouma was conscripted into the new national army and was selected for the army’s boxing team. He would have been forced to fight once again, had he not been selected for the army’s boxing team.
He excelled working his way to a 62-3 amateur boxing record and, in 1996, was selected to represent Uganda in the world military boxing championships in the United States. ‘I got the visa for it but the army didn’t have any money [to send me] so they canceled that one.
However, on a trip to the USA with the Ugandan national team, he decided to stay and pursue a boxing career. His career, though up and down at times, was a largely successful one and he competed in numerous high profile fights against some of the best in the world.
Ouma is a former champion and top-level contender in the Light Middleweight division. Since the Karmazin bout, Ouma has remained active in the Light Middleweight division, earning three wins, two by knockout. On May 6, 2006, Ouma defeated Marco Antonio Rubio by split decision despite being knocked down in the first round.
Undeterred he has continued to put in his very best ensuring that his past does not shape his present, neither way him down from achieving a successful career in boxing.
