Idi Amin/Forest Whitaker: When a boxer becomes a dictator
“Politics is like boxing—you try to knock out your opponents.� – Idi Amin
Idi Amin was a piece of work. Although African to the bone, he joined the British Colonial Army in 1946 as a member of the King’s African Rifles. He fought in Kenya and Somalia and was awarded the rank of Army sergeant in 1953. When Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962, Amin joined the Ugandan Army. Four years later, he was Commander of the Armed Forces.
In 1971, Amin staged a successful military coup and ousted Uganda’s president, Milton Obote, whereupon Amin declared himself “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.” (And you thought you took yourself seriously.) Despite the flowery designation, the paternalistic Amin wanted everyone to call him “Big Daddy,â€? but the poor citizens of his country called him the “Butcher of Uganda.â€?
According to Amnesty International, up to a half million Ugandans were murdered during Amin’s rule. Amin once said Hitler “was right to burn six million Jews.� There are even reports of Amin’s cannibalism.
Unlike Forest Whitaker’s performance, the film “The Last King of Scotland� is flawed. Most significantly, the script is weak; several potentially fascinating subplots come and go without so much as a whimper. But in that weak script mention is made, in passing, that Idi Amin—a killing cousin of Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Pinochet, choose your strongman, ad nauseum, you name it—was also once a boxing champion.
Amin was Uganda’s light heavyweight champion between 1951 and 1960, and it turns out he was as crazy about boxing as he was crazy about everything else. According to The Monitor, the All Africa Boxing Championships were held in Kampala in 1974 and Amin was his usual crazy self. He declared himself the “Sporting President,” before replacing the longtime manager of the boxing team with—you guessed it—Idi Amin.
At the time of his new appointment, Amin boasted to two members of the Scottish Nationalists Party (Amin had a thing for men in kilts) that he never lost a fight to a European.
But that’s a big lie.
“Amin lost all the eight fights he had against five Europeans,� reports The Monitor, “McCullough, De Vandre, Peach, Giani Sera (an Italian). The fifth is not given because Amin lost to him during a training qualifier contest for the 1958 Commonwealth games in Edinburgh.�
President Amin was one of the most dynamic figures in history. He lived a life of luxury in exile, having taken millions with him before leaving Uganda. There will never be anyone quite like President Amin.
The Monitor has got the boxing results almost completely wrong! I knew Idi well 1953 – 65. The only Europeans I know he boxed were Gino Sera and myself. I have never heard of McCullough.
Idi was Uganda Heavyweight Open Heavyweight Champion in 1952, 1954 & 1955. He was beaten by Ben Ochan – the ultimate champion – in a semi final 1953. I witnessed this as Ochan beat me on points in the final. In 1954 Idi outpointed me to win the Open Heavyweight Title. He won again in 1955 whilst I was on UK Home leave. I knocked him out in the 3rd round in the final 1956 – thus depriving him of winning the Uganda Herald Championship Belt outright. In 1957 I outpointed him in the Final that year. In 1958 I won the Title for the third year knocking out a fellow European David Partridge. I won the Belt outright and still have it duly mounted with all the winners names – as above – inscribed on platelets attached.
I won the Title again in 1959 for the last time when Sgt Cosgrove of 4 KAR was disqualified. I only recall Idi fighting at lightheavy weight twice. In 1958 he outpointed Gino Sera at Nsambya to win the the Open Lightheavy weight title: and, subsequently successfully representing Uganda in Nairobi when the Kenya Champion Ouiso Oweri retired at the end of the second round. Roy Devandre was a Colonial Policeman as I was and only boxed once at lightheavy weight. This was in 1958 when he outpointed John Hughes, the defending Champion in the National Open Championships.
I represented Uganda in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – the last occaision on which the Games were given this Title. There was no box off to select the Uganda representative at Heavyweight. I was appointed Assistant Coach to Mitch Biedel. Indeed the choices at the six weights sent were clear cut quite early. The Games were held in CARDIFF not Edinburgh. I was outpointed by Dave Thomas, the British Champion (and runner up in the 1959 European Championships) in a quarterfinal. Thomas went on to win a Silver Medal – outpointed by Dan Bekker of South Africa in the Final.
In the period April 1953 to January 1965 I was closely connected with boxing in East Africa in general and the UABA in particular as a boxer, coach, manager, (Internationally qualified)judge and referee. Unless The Monitor, or anyone else has specific evidence (tournament, date, place, opponent’s name and result) of Idi boxing after January 1965, the foregoing is an accurate summary of Idi’s boxing career.
Idi was a Coropral when I first met him and a Lieut. Colonel when I last spoke to him in Jan. 1965, just before I left Uganda on retirement
Les Peach 11 June 2008.