Amateur Super Heavyweight Gilbert Kabamba & The Road To The 2028 Olympics in L.A.

Few can say they aimed to be a U.S. Olympian, let alone a super heavyweight U.S. Olympian. Yet for Gilbert Kabamba, the goal of becoming an Olympian is just one of many extraordinary feats in his rapidly evolving story.

Kabamba was born in Congo, but because of ongoing wars, his family moved to Uganda as refugees. This happened when he was five or six years old. When he was 12, he moved to America.

“When I first got here, I got a hot shower,” Kabamba told FightsATW. “I was used to showering in little buckets.”

Boxing wasn’t the 25-year-old Kabamba’s first love; rather, football was. He was part of a high school football team that was the best in Massachusetts. He followed that by attending a Division I college. On the gridiron, he learned how to be coached, a skill he carries to this day. After losing his full scholarship, Kabamba found boxing by accident. He was going to a gym to stay in shape and to attend a junior college to gear up for another run at a top school in the nation.

After dealing with initial depression, a conversation with a random stranger during a 6 AM jog on Crescent Beach sparked his interest. He was asked whether he had ever tried boxing. Though he hadn’t, he was invited to check out a gym in Dorchester, MA. He went that same day.

“For some reason I got sucked into it,” Kabamba said. “I came back the next day. Then for a whole week.”

Kabamba was using the boxing equipment and also the weights, as his focus was on going to Kansas to play football. A coach sat him down and explained that he could make money in boxing if he pursued it as a career.

The conversation lingered in his mind.

“I called my older brother and told him that I don’t think I am going to play football anymore,” Kabamba said with a chuckle. “I gave him a reason why, because if I go back to junior college and flunk out again, then I would be wasting time. Why don’t I just give boxing a try, and if it doesn’t work out for the first year, I would go back to football.”

The decision worked out well for him. He had to lose weight; he was 330 lbs and needed to be a functional heavyweight.

Then, another crossroads.

“I had a tough decision to make early in my boxing career to switch gyms,” Kabamba said. “From the coach who really helped me get into boxing to move on to a better coach who would really put in the time with me. For some reason, I already had the boxer mindset, and I knew if I went to the new gym, I would be a way better fighter.”

That happened in November 2021. A year later, he won the regional Golden Gloves. In fact, he didn’t lose a single fight that year. His first loss came to the now 39-year-old Charles Pugh at the 2023 Last Chance Olympic Qualifier in Pueblo, Colorado. Kabamba describes that loss as devastating, as he had won his first 20 fights.

“Kill or be killed,” Kabamba said of the mentality he brings to the ring. “Every time I enter the ring, [I say] it is not going to be me. I am not going to be on the losing side. There is no tomorrow.”

The goal is clear: he wants to be part of the U.S. team competing at L.A. 2028.

“Little stuff I have to adjust on my side to get to the 2028 Olympics,” Kabamba said. “Working on the point system style instead of trying to kill someone every time. When people are running and touching you, in the judges’ eyes they are winning, so I have to adjust my fighting style.”

Lucas Ketelle

Lucas Ketelle is a boxing writer and podcaster who has appeared on various platforms throughout his career.

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