Franco Wanyama
Ugandan boxer
- Born
- 7 February 1968, Kampala
- Died
- March 2019, Rugby
- Citizenship
- Uganda
- Sport
- boxing
- Discipline
- heavyweight, cruiserweight
- Occupation
- boxer
- Height
- 191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Franco "Thunderbird" Wanyama (7 February 1968 – 21 March 2019) was a Ugandan professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2000. He competed in the middleweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight division. He was an amateur representative of Uganda at middleweight in the Boxing at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, losing to eventual bronze medal winner Chris Sande 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 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb), i.e. cruiserweight to 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb), i.e. heavyweight. Wanyama defeated notable fighters such as Jimmy Thunder, Carl Thompson and Johnny Nelson and was sparring partner to Vitali Klitschko & Wladimir Klitschko. He lived his last years in Rugby, Warwickshire, England and had 3 children, Shannon Wanyama, Nellie Wanyama and Wanga Wanyama.
Competitions
| Competition | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 Summer Olympics | 1988 |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q16201815 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.