Franco "Thunderbird" Wanyama (7 February 1968 - 21 March 2019) in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, was a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

of the 1980s, '90s and 2000s. He was an amateur representative of Uganda at middleweight in the Boxing at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, losing to eventual

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

winner

Chris Sande Christopher Joseph Sande (born 10 February 1964) is a Kenyan former professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the bronze medal in the Middleweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He shared the podium with Pakistan's Hussain Sha ...

of Kenya, and as a professional won the BeNeLux heavyweight title, BeNeLux cruiserweight title, Commonwealth cruiserweight title, and World Boxing Federation (WBF) cruiserweight title, and was a challenger for the Commonwealth cruiserweight title against Chris Okoh, his professional fighting weight varied from , i.e. cruiserweight to , i.e.

. Wanyama defeated notable fighters such as

Jimmy Thunder Ti'a James Senio Peau (3 February 1966 – 13 February 2020), known professionally as Jimmy Thunder, was a Samoan-born New Zealand professional boxer who held the IBO heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995. He held multiple regional heavyweight ti ...

Carl Thompson Carl Thompson may refer to: * Carl Thompson (boxer) (born 1964), British boxer * Carl Thompson (luthier) (born 1939), American luthier * Carl Thompson (heavy person) (1981–2015), heaviest man in the United Kingdom * Carl D. Thompson (1870–1949 ...

and

Johnny Nelson Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2006, and remains t ...

and was sparring partner to

Vitali Klitschko Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...

. He lived his last years in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and had 3 children, Shannon Wanyama, Nellie Wanyama and Wanga Wanyama.

Early life

Franco started boxing around the age of 6 after becoming curious of what was inside a local boxing gym.

Professional career

Franco made his professional debut on 25 December 1989 against Dutch fighter John Held (7-13-2) it ended a 6-round points draw. In 1990 he beat future world title holder Carl Thompson on points. In 1993 he won a bout against another future world champion, Johnny Nelson, who was disqualified for repeated holding. In 1995 he was matched with former world champion Thomas Hearns but the fight was called off at the last minute and Hearns was replaced by ranked Heavyweight Jimmy Thunder, Wanyama and gave away a 30 pounds in weight but still came away with a points victory.

Later years

After his retirement Franco worked as a sparring partner, notably with the Klitschko brothers. From 2007 he became a youth worker and boxing coach in Rugby, taking classes for the youth service whilst also being a coach at a local amateur boxing gym. On the 21st of March 2019 Franco died at his home in Rugby.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Image - Franco Wanyama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanyama, Franco 1968 births 2019 deaths Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Cruiserweight boxers Heavyweight boxers Olympic boxers for Uganda Boxers from Kampala Ugandan male boxers 20th-century Ugandan sportsmen Sportspeople from Rugby, Warwickshire