After a great amateur boxing career that finished with a Gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, Kenya's Robert Wangila (Wangila Napunyi) turned professional on Feb. 24, 1989 scoring a unanimous win over Sidney Gomes who was also making his pro debut.
After a couple of easy wins, the former gold medal olympian was put into a very tough matchup against Oklahoma's Buck "Tombstone" Smith who came into the bout with a record of 22-1-2, 16 ko. The bout was on the undercard of Sugar Ray Leonard vs Thomas Hearns rematch at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. A high level challenge for a man with just 3 pro fights. Wangila won a very hard fought majority decision over 6 rounds.
Wangila ran off a 6 fight knockout streak and took a record of 10-0, 7 by knockout into his next big test against Indianapolis' Clarence White (13-1, 9 ko) in another battle of prospects. The fight was on the undercard of a talent loaded event that included: Andrew Maynard, Sharma Mitchell, Lamar "Kidfire" Parks, and others with a WBO Middleweight battle between Doug Dewitt & Nigel Benn as the main event. Wangila shined winning a unanimous decision over 6 rounds!
Robert came back about 6 weeks later with an easy 3rd round tko win over Jorge Hernandez, but just 6 weeks after that fight, he took his first loss in shocking fashion, being stopped by Puerto Rico's Eric Hernandez in 3 rounds.
The loss was a setback, but his management team wasted no time getting him back into the ring 3 months later, and he looked sharp scoring a 2nd round tko over Calvin Meeks (10-2).
Wangila was back on track and after 6 straight victories, with his pro record now standing at 19-1, he gave Buck Smith a rematch. Smith had been VERY busy and came into the rematch with a pro record of 91-2-2! Smith wanted badly to avenge one of his only 2 losses, and he came out blazing, stopping Wangila in round 2.
Wangila was then stopped in his next fight by William Hernandez. Robert stepped away from the game for a while and after a year and 3 months, he returned to avenge that loss to Hernandez, stopping him in round 5 of the rematch.
Wangila had a solid record at 21-3, and after a tune-up bout against Pedro Aguirre, he stepped in to face former Australian Welterweight champion, and world title contender - Troy Waters (21-3). Waters was coming off of a WBC world title challenge loss to Terry Norris. It was a great night for the Aussie as he scored a 6th round tko win over Wangila at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, CA.
Wangila would score his final victory with an 8 round unanimous decision over Mexico's Jesus Mayorga.
Robert's final fight turned out to be a tragic event. He faced Houston's David Gonzalez (38-3-1) in a 10-round main event. The bout was a war, but Wangila was taking too much punishment, and referee Joe Cortez stopped the bout at 1:12 of the 9th round. Wangila protested, but later collapsed in his dressing room. He died from injuries sustained during the bout.
Robert "Kid" Wangila was a hard fighting fan favorite who gave his all each time out. He never got a title shot, but fought on in the sport he loved and excelled at. He finished with a pro record of: 22 Wins and 5 losses. Winning 16 by knockout. Winning an Olympic Gold Medal, and the respect of boxing fans around the world.
Check out his complete pro ledger on: BOXREC.COM
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If you would like to see Robert Wangila in action, I have the following bouts available on DVD:
ROBERT WANGILA vs
SIDNEY GOMES [w-4] (Pro Debut)
ARIEL CONDE (aka- "Henry Perez") [ko-1]
BUCK SMITH #1 [w-6]
ANTHONY MARTINEZ [ko-5]
RODDY BLAKE [tko-1]
ROBERTO GARCIA [tko-2]
RAMON FELIX [tko-3]
CLARENCE WHITE [w-6]
ERIC HERNANDEZ [tko-by-6]
STEVE BARRERAS [tko-6]
BUCK SMITH #2 [tko-by-2]
TROY WATERS [tko-by-6] {Vac WBB Jr. Middle}
Amateur:
Laurent Boudouani (France) [rsc-2] (1988 Olympics)
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