In the 1972 Olympics, Philip Waruinge faced off with Boris Kuznetov of the Soviet Union. He would lose in a split decision (3-2). A creditable performance considering that he was fighting against a product of the Soviet program that is now known to have been heavily involved in systematic doping.

On his way to the final, Waruinge beat Jabbar Feli of Iran, Salah Mohamed Amin of Egypt, Jouko Lindberg of Finland and Clemente Rojas of Colombia.