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Robert Wangila

Died
July 24, 1994
Age
26 years
Cause
injuries sustained during boxing match

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About Robert Wangila

Robert Wangila, 26, Kenyan boxer and Olympic champion (1988), injuries sustained during boxing match.

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Full Biography

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Robert Napunyi Wangila (3 September 1966 — 24 July 1994) was a Kenyan boxer who won a welterweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. He is the only Kenyan Olympic gold medalist outside of athletics and the only boxer from Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa to have won Olympic gold.

Olympic results

Pro career

Wangila turned to professional boxing in 1989 and compiled a career record of 22-5-0.

Death

Wangila died from injuries received in a 1994 fight with David Gonzales in Las Vegas. Wangila had been beaten to such a bad condition that the referee Joe Cortez stopped the match in favour of Gonzales, despite Wangila's fierce protests. After the match, Wangila lapsed into a coma in his dressing room. He was pronounced dead thirty-six hours later. Wangila had converted from Christianity to Islam while in the United States, and his will requested that he be buried according to the wishes of his Muslim wife. Napunyi Wangila, married Queen Noble, May 16, 1992 until his death. The will was challenged by Wangila's family in Kenya, but a judge ruled in favor of a Muslim burial.

Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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Sources

People who died on July 24

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