Philip Waruinge (3 February 1945 – 19 October 2022) was a Kenyan professional boxer, who competed in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

division (– 57 kg) during his career as an amateur.

Personal life

Philip Waruinge was born on 3 February 1945 in

Murang'a Murang'a (or Muranga) is a town in Murang'a County of Kenya. Before the independence of Kenya in 1963, this town used to be called Fort Hall. It is the administrative centre of Murang'a County and is mainly inhabited by the Kikuyu community. A ...

, Kenya. He died in

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

on 19 October 2022, at the age of 77.

Career

Amateur career

Waruinge represented his native country at three consecutive

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 ...

, starting in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. He won the bronze medal in

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mex ...

(1968) losing 2:3 to local

Antonio Roldan Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

and was awarded the

Val Barker Trophy The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxing ...

for Outstanding Boxer at the 1968

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Games. Waruinge captured the silver in 1972 in

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West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

1972 Olympics

Below are the results of Philip Waruinge, a Kenyan featherweight boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics: * Round of 64: bye * Round of 32: defeated Jabbar Feli (Iran) by decision, 4-1 * Round of 16: defeated Salah Mohamed Amin (Egypt) by decision, 5-0 * Quarterfinal: defeated Jacko Lindberg (Finland) by decision, 4-1 * Semifinal: defeated Clemente Rojas (Colombia) by decision, 3-2 * Final: lost to Boris Kuznetsov (Soviet Union) by decision, 2-3 (was awarded silver medal)

Professional career

Waruinge turned professional in 1973 as a super bantamweight and had limited success. He fought largely in Japan. In 1976 Waruinge landed a shot at WBC Bantamweight titleholder Carlos Zarate. Waruinge was outclassed and was knocked out in the fourth round. He retired after a loss two years later having competed in 25 professional bouts. He won 14, lost 10, and drew 1.

References

External links

*
Olympic results 1968

1945 births 2022 deaths Featherweight boxers Olympic boxers of Kenya Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya Boxers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Kenya Olympic medalists in boxing Kenyan male boxers Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing African Games gold medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in boxing Boxers at the 1965 All-Africa Games People from Murang'a {{Kenya-Olympic-medalist-stub