John Siryakibbe (25 December 1962) is a retired boxer, who represented
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
at two Summer Olympics.
Siryakibbe was just 17 years old when he competed at the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, after receiving a bye in the first round of the
bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from Ba ...
contest, he was up against the
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n
Aleksandr Radev, which Siryakibbe won when the referee stopped the contest after just over a minute in round one, in the next round he was against the Frenchman
Ali Ben Moghenia, this went all the way with the Ugandan winning on points 5-0, in the quarter finals he lost against
Bernardo Piñango
Bernardo José Piñango Figuera (born February 9, 1960) is a Venezuelan former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1990. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA and ''The Ring'' bantamweight titles from 1986 ...
after a second round knockout.
Two years later Siryakibbe was in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, competing in the
1982 Commonwealth Games
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...
, where he finished 5th in the bantamweight division, the following year he won a gold medal at the 1983 African Amateur Boxing Championships which were held in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, Uganda.
Still only twenty-one years old he competed in his second
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
this time in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, under the same weight as four years previous, he beat
Manuel Vilchez from
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
in the first round by points 3-2, but in the second round contest he lost to
Pedro Nolasco
Pedro Nolasco (February 2, 1962 – September 15, 1995) was a Dominican boxer, who won the bronze medal in the men's bantamweight category at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States.
This was the first Olympic medal of the Domi ...
from the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
on points 0-5.
References
1962 births
Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Boxers at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Living people
Bantamweight boxers
Olympic boxers for Uganda
Ugandan male boxers
Boxers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for Uganda
Place of birth missing (living people)
{{Uganda-boxing-bio-stub