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. As a professional, he held the WBA and The Ring light middleweight titles from 1979 until 1981.
Boxing career
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 U.S. olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Seales.
On 24 October 1979, Kalule was in Akita, Japan to take on Masashi Kudo for the Lineal and WBA Junior middleweight titles. Kalule easily outboxed the champion and thus captured the coveted world championship crown. 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 23 KOs.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes50Loss46–4 Herol GrahamTKO10 (12), Feb 5, 198649Win46–3 Sumbu KalambaySD12Dec 19, 198548Win45–3 Pierre JolyTKO8 (12)Jun 20, 198547Win44–3 Mauro Fernandes da CruzTKO4 (8)Mar 9, 198546Win43–3 Lindell HolmesPTS8Nov 9, 198445Win42–3 Wayne CapletteTKO3 (8)Oct 5, 198444Win41–3 Jimmy PriceTKO1 (10)Apr 25, 198443Loss40–3 Mike McCallumRTD7 (10), Nov 13, 198242Loss40–2 Davey MooreTKO10 (15), Jul 17, 198241Win40–1 Oscar AlbaradoTKO2 (10)Apr 30, 198240Win39–1 Jacques ChinonPTS10Feb 26, 198239Win38–1 O'Dell LeonardPTS8Nov 13, 198138Win37–1 Andoni AmanaPTS10Oct 9, 198137Loss36–1 Sugar Ray LeonardKO9 (15), Jun 25, 198136Win36–0 Pat HallacyPTS10Mar 5, 198135Win35–0 Bushy BesterUD15Sep 6, 198034Win34–0 Marijan BenešUD15Jun 12, 198033Win33–0 Emiliano VillaRTD11 (15), Apr 17, 198032Win32–0 Steve GregoryUD15Dec 6, 197931Win31–0 Masashi KudoUD15Oct 24, 197930Win30–0 David LovePTS10Sep 6, 197929Win29–0 Ray HammondPTS8Jun 28, 197928Win28–0 Obdulio Rogelio ZarzaPTS10May 27, 197927Win27–0 Monty BethamTKO4 (10)Mar 15, 197926Win26–0 Ho JooKO2 (10)Feb 15, 197925Win25–0 Kevin FinneganUD10Dec 7, 197824Win24–0 Sugar Ray SealesMD10Nov 9, 197823Win23–0 Reggie FordKO5 (15)Sep 14, 197822Win22–0 Milton OwensTKO6 (10), Aug 10, 197821Win21–0 Al KorovouTKO14 (15), May 25, 197820Win20–0 Idrissa KonateTKO7 (12)Apr 27, 197819Win19–0 Tsutomu HagusaTKO3 (10)Mar 16, 197818Win18–0 Johnny BaldwinPTS10Mar 2, 197817Win17–0 Jose HernandezTKO5 (10)Feb 9, 197816Win16–0 Rennie PinderPTS8Jan 26, 197815Win15–0 Bonifacio ÁvilaTKO4 (10)Jan 5, 197814Win14–0 Ralph PalladinPTS10Dec 8, 197713Win13–0 Miguel Ángel CastelliniTKO3 (10)Nov 3, 197712Win12–0 Alvin AndersonTKO9 (10)Oct 6, 197711Win11–0 Rudy RoblesPTS10Sep 8, 197710Win10–0 Elisha ObedPTS10Jun 2, 19779Win9–0 Jose DuranTKO7 (10)Apr 28, 19778Win8–0 Aroldo OlivaresTKO6 (10)Mar 31, 19777Win7–0 Mimoun MohatarPTS10Feb 24, 19776Win6–0 Damiano LassandroTKO3 (10)Jan 20, 19775Win5–0 Larry PaulKO2 (10)Dec 9, 19764Win4–0 Gualberto FernandezKO1 (6)Nov 19, 19763Win3–0 Trevor FrancisPTS6Oct 9, 19762Win2–0 Wayne BennettKO5 (6)Jun 3, 19761Win1–0 Kurt HombachPTS4Apr 8, 1976
See also List of world light-middleweight boxing champions
References
External links
Boxing-Records Ayub Kalule - CBZ Profile