KAMPALA – Golola Moses and Umar Semata breezed through the perfunctory K1 weigh-in on Friday with the former coming in heavier.
Golola who is credited for elevating Kick-Boxing in Uganda in Uganda weighed in at 75.8kgs while Semata weighed 75.4kgs.
At the function held at Freedom City in Najjanankumbi, both fighters roared for the last time ahead of Saturday’s fight.
“I am happy that the time has finally come, said the unusually calm Golola.
“Thanks to all the fans. I have trained and my trainers say I am now ready to beat the hell out of Semata.
For Semata, he promised to finally floor Golola once and for all.
“Thanks to sponsors for making everything happen, said a confident-looking Semata.
“Thank you Balama for enabling the fight to happen.
“I am grateful to the fighters who have spired with me along with my coaches.
“Have nothing to say but he (Golola) will no longer lie to u as I am putting him away once and for all.
This will be the second time the two fighters are facing off after Semata beat Golola via a unanimous decision in October 2018.
Since the first fight, Golola has been craving for a re-match that will take place on Saturday, August 3rd 2019.
During the weigh-in on Friday, it was announced that the first son has staked UGX 10m, to be paid to one of the two fighters, that is if one can knock-out the other in the first round.
The fight
The fight will be in the K1 style consisting of 5 rounds of 3 minutes each. Each round will consist of a 1-minute break.
The undercard/Proam category will be 3 rounds of 2 minutes each and a one-minute break between the rounds.
The Proam National rankings will feature the super bantamweight, super cruiserweight, both of which will go up to the semi-finals of the rankings.
Must know about the two fighters
Moses Golola
He is a Ugandan self-made celebrity, entertainer, champion kickboxer, actor, philanthropist, businessman and investor known for building his personal brand.
While his actual accomplishments as a kickboxer have been questioned by the media in Uganda, with accusations ranging from rigged events to outright fraud, Golola has, nevertheless, been credited with popularizing the sport of kickboxing in Uganda (a discipline which previously generated minimal fan interest in Uganda)and has managed to build up a large fan following in Uganda.
His 2011 fight against Abdul Qadir Rahim managed to attract the largest attendance in Uganda outside of Ugandan national football team matches and Golola has perhaps the largest fan following in Uganda outside of the national football team.
Golola has one of the largest online fan bases of anyone in Uganda. His fans have created various memes associated with Golola and even their own parody version of Downfall starring Golola.
Golola is known for his humorous personality and flamboyant showmanship, traits which have helped him to popularize the sport of kickboxing in Uganda and helped him to gain a large fan following.
He is the Kickboxing Champion of East and Central Africa having emerged winner in a controversial match against Hungarian Andras Nagy on 9 December 2011.
Golola was involved in a financial dispute with his promoter at that time, Patrick Kanyomozi, and claimed that he was owed 30 million Ugandan shillings as his part of a 40-60 split from the fight. The dispute later caused him to split with Kanyomozi and introduce his own brother as his promoter.
Umar Semata
Semata is a Ugandan middleweight and super middleweight Muay Thai fighter who is the current World Boxing Council Muaythai Super Middleweight International Champion, a title he has held since 14 June 2013.
After winning numerous events in boxing, he was spotted by Shala Golola who immediately recognized his talents and convinced him to swap to Muay Thai. Semata was selected at the age of 18 to represent the Ugandan national Muay Thai team to compete in Thailand.
In an event organized by the World Professional Muaythai Federation Semata lost by a point to Saenchai on 20 July 2012 in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand.
Semata won on points the World Boxing Council Muaythai against Australian fighter Rhys Karakyriacos. The fight took take in Semata’s hometown of Kampala, Uganda on the 14th of June 2013.
In 2017, Semata agreed to terms with the World Lethwei Championship. On 4 November 2017, Semata made his Lethwei debut against veteran Soe Lin Oo at WLC 3 in Yangon, Myanmar inside the Thuwunna Stadium. Semata lost by knockout in the second round.
Semata is the only Ugandan to have beaten Golola Moses.
