This boxer/youth worker/musician doesn’t let a 5,433 km commute to Toronto hold him back


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Mponda Kalunga’s dedication to his boxing career is off the charts.

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All professional boxers are dedicated. An unprepared fighter courts disaster inside the ring.

But Kalunga — who heads the annual Shaw Festival Boxing Card at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Thursday night — takes commitment and dedication it to a whole new level.

When the Egyptian-born boxer has a fight lined up, he leaves his home in the Yukon and travels to Toronto to prepare for the bout — a distance of 5,453 km. And he’s done that for every one of his fights from him since moving to the Yukon a couple of years ago.

“The trip usually takes a whole day or more,” Kalunga told the Toronto Sun this week. “And it’s expensive.”

And there are no direct flights.

And when he finally arrives in Toronto, the talented super-welterweight trains and lives at Grant’s MMA and Boxing Gym. Even with a full-time job and a boxing career, money is scarce.

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“I sleep at the gym. Everything is here, so I don’t need to be anywhere else,” he said.

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When you’re chasing a dream, you have to do what it takes to reach that dream. And for The Egyptian Prince, as Kalunga is known inside the squared circle, the dream is a world title shot. And though he’s 32 and has had only 11 pro bouts in nine years, you certainly can’t count him out. Kalunga has already overcome some pretty major obstacles in his life.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Congolese father (a professional musician) and Egyptian mother, Kalunga and his three sisters moved with their father to Tanzania when he was three. But the family’s money eventually ran out and they were placed in a refugee camp, where they spent seven years.

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“That’s where the fighter in me started, with all the hardships there,” Kalunga said.

With the help of the Red Cross, the family was able to move to Canada — St. John’s, Newfoundland to be precise — when Kalunga was 10. Talk about a cultural shock.

“That was very different from anything I ever imagined,” he said, with a laugh. “But it was also a blessing, a saving.”

But there was also some great sadness with the move. Kalunga’s father and mother broke up when he was still a very young boy in Egypt and he hasn’t seen or heard from his mom since. Kalunga, who is 9-2 as a pro, booked a trip to Egypt trying to find her some years ago, but had to cancel his flights when the Arab Spring took root and the political situation in Egypt became volatile. To this day, Kalunga vows one day to find her from her.

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“I actually don’t have any memory of her. I only have a little picture,” said the boxer, who is not even sure if his mom is alive. “Even seeing her seriousness would be good enough for me.”

After settling in St. John’s, Kalunga started boxing and, in 2007, represented his adopted province at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. With only nine amateur fights under his belt from him, he managed to bring home a silver medal. The Canada Games lit a fire in terms of Kalunga wanting to pursue boxing as a pro. Seeking better training and sparring opportunities, Kalunga first moved to Montreal to work with famed Canadian boxing trainer/commentator Russ Anber and then later Toronto, where he hooked up with Ryan Grant, now his trainer and manager. Kalunga is prompted by Tyler Buxton at United Boxing Promotions.

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Kalunga’s flight from a refugee camp in Tanzania to Canada, to the pro boxing ring, is only part of his story. In Whitehorse, Kalunga works as a Transitional Support Worker, working with at-risk and abused children, mostly aboriginal youth, in a group home. It’s very difficult, emotional work.

“I knew it was going to be hard when I took the job, but I like it,” he said. “It’s a challenge and I can be useful. And it relates to my life.”

Despite the rather onerous cross-continental commute every time he accepts a fight, Kalunga plans to keep at it until he at least gets a shot at an international title. His opponent of him on Thursday is tough Mexican journeyman David Martinez Chavez, 15-6-1.

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“I would love to fight six times a year because I’m turning 33 next month. So if I had fights back to back, it would speed up the process to get a championship bout,” he said. “I’m on a seven fight winning streak and I want to make it eight straight. I’m knocking on the door.

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“Boxing is what keeps me going, man,” Kalunga added. “It gives me a purpose. It’s something I know I’m good at and I want to take it as far as possible. I’ve dedicated myself to it.”

When his fistic pursuits eventually come to an end, Kalunga will re-focus his energies on his other passion—music. A self-taught guitarist, Kalunga performs and writes music — a cross, he said, of soul and folk. His influences on him are diverse and include Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra. He even formed his own group, Matata 6. Kalunga said he loves music as much as boxing, adding that training for Thursday’s fight has gone well, except for one thing missing.

“I wish I had my guitar here at training camp,” he said.

Mponda Kalunga training at Grant's MMA and Boxing Gym in Toronto on Tuesday April 19, 2022. Veronica Henri/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
Mponda Kalunga training at Grant’s MMA and Boxing Gym in Toronto on Tuesday April 19, 2022. Veronica Henri/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

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