Political Turmoil Amid Amateur World Championships in Chicago

This years World Boxing Championships have been privy to multiple political scandals before the games have actually even started.  First, Fidel Castro refused to send the Cuban boxing team for fear of defection, then an Iranian boxer and coach who won the bronze medal at the Asian games were refused entry into the United States because of the fledgling relationship between the two countries.  Now, after reports that two Egyptian heavyweights have abandoned their team in hopes to defect into the U.S., the Ugandan amateur boxing team will now be escorted by bodyguards 24/7.  Former IBF Jr. Middleweight champion Kassim Ouma, 25-3 with 15 KO’s, defected from the Ugandan national team while traveling in the U.S. in 1997.  Ouma was kidnapped as a child and forced to fight with the rebel army for more than 10 years.  Ouma’s father was murdered back home in Uganda as a result of Kassim’s defection.  Source: All Africa