I don’t remember ever. And don’t count the charity games they play in.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is hardly any money in amateur boxing. The AIBA Boxing World Cup was a rare event that offered prize money. Our bronze-medal winning boxers won 2,500 USD each – peanuts compared to most other sports.

But, in spite of the meagre amount, boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, decided to distribute a share of their prize money to the coaching staff comprising - Sandhu, Bisht, Ramanand and C Kuttappa. “We will give $500 to each of them as these people matter the most. They wipe our blood and sweat and put in the effort to prepare us for the toughest in the world. They are the unsung heroes,” said Akhil.

Now you decide, who is richer – cricketers or boxers?

This article was originally posted here.

(AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHON)

Sadly, there was major dejection in store. It started with Jitender Kumar getting soundly beaten by Laffita Hernandez of Cuba. Then there was a heart-break moment as Akhil Kumar lost out on a count back after tying 4-4 against another Cuban, Alarcon Leon. In Beijing, Akhil had been on the right side of a tight call but sadly it was his opponent who heaved a sigh of relief in Moscow. Anthresh Lakra fought hard but went down 3-6 to Torriente Idel making it 3 out 3 for Cuba against India. And the worst was yet to come. It came when Dinesh Kumar was battered into submission and was forced to throw in the towel, bringing an ignominious end to the Indian campaign. The watershed moment would have to wait for another day.

Now a day later, after the dust has settled, we can take stock of the situation. Dinesh Kumar beat Abdelhafid Benchabla, the guy who beat him at Beijing and went onto clinch bronze. That is a big gain – one step forward for him. Jitender and Anthresh have won bronze but they did not have to beat a top boxer to do that – hence don’t have much other than the bronze medal to take home from this event.

Akhil Kumar’s drawn duel against a world –class Cuban is the biggest gain. Alarcon Leon showed his class by winning his final bout 10-1. It is the first time that an Indian boxer has gone toe-to-toe, punch for punch against a top Cuban. Fighting against them is as much a challenge mentally as it is a test of skill and power. This will give Indian boxers the confidence that they have it in them to take on the very best. As for Akhil, it will be a small step towards the goal he has set for himself – gold at London 2012.

This tournament has also thrown some light on what India needs to do in boxing now. It has clearly established that boxing is India’s biggest medal hope at the next Olympics and also that the talent pool is also larger – as compared to badminton, wrestling and shooting. It has conclusively proved that the increase in exposure trips and the hiring of a physio have paid off big time. And therefore more good work needs to be done in that direction – starting with an increase in world-class support staff and training infrastructure. It has also shown us that we still have a long way to go before we can start beating the Cubans and the Russians. We need to start setting the bar higher. Bronze medals are good but let’s not get too carried away by it. Let’s start aiming and preparing for the watershed moment.

The government and various others will surely jostle with each other to felicitate and reward the medal-winning boxers on their return. Some of them might just end up with an advertising contract – a la Vijender. In a nutshell Indian boxers are sure to get a lot of adulation and rewards in the days to come.

Therefore, let’s talk about someone who largely remains in the shadows, other than when the Indian Olympic Association dropped him from the Olympic squad to accommodate Sania Mirza’s mom and that too as an official. Let’s give some credit to Heath Matthews - the physio recruited by the Mittals Champions Trust.

While coaches Gurbax Singh Sandhu and B I Fernandes have played an equally critical role in the emergence of Indian boxing, it’s Matthews who’s provided the finishing touches and many healing touches as well.

The South African is a special recruit of the Mittals Trust and has helped the likes of squash player Joshna Chinappa among others. But his biggest influence has been in the highly physical sport of boxing – a sport where Indians have always shown talent but missed out on glory owing quite often than not to lack of fitness and conditioning. As echoed by coach Fernandes, he has been far busier with the recovery of the boxers than their technique. Thanks to Matthews, he can totally focus on the right area now.

For the boxing team, Matthews is the physio, psychologist and nutritionist all rolled into one. He thus addresses they key areas of fitness, conditioning, mental strength, dietary balance and physical health – things which have traditionally been ignored not just in Indian boxing but overall in Indian sport. We have seen the benefits of professional support in cricket. Now Matthews is doing the same for boxing and more. The players swear by him and the coaches love him. It’s time the sports fans and the government started loving him as well.

The Olympic episode is just one example of his contribution. Akhil Kumar cried hoarse when the IOA dropped the physio – he made it very obvious that without Matthews they weren’t capable of giving their best. And Matthews then proved that their fears were not unfounded. He helped Vijender recover from a draining first-round bout and patched up Jitender to ensure that the boxer wasn’t disqualified for an open wound.

The South African harboured cricketing ambitions when he was young. South African cricket isn’t in any way worse off without him. But Indian boxing would have never scaled the heights of Beijing and Moscow had it not had Matthews in its ranks.

(Photo Courtesy: NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images)

The World Cup will mark a significant milestone for AIBA in its goal to lead the boxing world into new exciting territory. The tournament will have an innovative format, tailor-made for boxing fans and media around the world.

The World Cup will have 11 weight classes and only 8 participants in each weight class as compared to 32 in the Olympics, making the tournament far more exclusive and the competition much tougher than the Olympics or the World Championships. It’s therefore not surprising that even the likes of Beijing bronze-medallist Vijender Kumar have failed to make the cut for the World Cup.

The World of boxing is extremely competitive – there are many top boxers in each category and anyone can beat anyone on a given day – as we saw in the Beijing Olympics, where a number of Olympic and World Championship medallists had to return empty handed.

Indian fans need not be disappointed though. The tricolour will be held aloft by four Indian participants – Akhil Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Lalit Anthresh Lakra. This number is an achievement in itself – apart from hosts Russia and traditional powerhouses Cuba, few other nations have this many participants.

Led by the indomitable Akhil Kumar in the Bantamweight (54 Kg), the Indian contingent is all raring to go. It’s a blessing to have someone like him around. Always full of self-belief his confidence rubs off on the other members of the team as well. And as his victory over World Champion Sergey Vodopyanov showed, the confidence is not misplaced. Moscow will be a good chance to make up for the disappointment of Beijing. The Olympic Champion Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan will be missing. But Vodopyanov will be there - thirsty for revenge and so will be Veaceslav Gojan, the guy who beat Akhil at the Olympics. The other formidable rival will be Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon of Cuba.

Anthresh Lalit Lakra disappointed at the Olympics losing in the first round. Before that he was a quarter-finalist at the 2007 World Championships. He is up against a heavy-duty line-up in the featherweight category (57Kg). He faces Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko as well as his conquerors in the last Olympics – eventual bronze –medallist Bahodirjon Sooltonov and the last World Championship - Chinese Yang Li.

Jitender Kumar leads the challenge in the Flyweight (51 Kg) and has to be considered a strong medal prospect after his giant killing run quarter-final run in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic Champion Somjit Jongjohor and the boxer who beat Jitender in Beijing - Georgy Balakshin are both missing from Moscow. The favourites will be the Cuban – Olympic silver medallist Andry Laffita and the Italian - Vincenzo Picardi, who won bronze at the last Olympics as well as the last World Championships.

The final Indian in the fray is Light heavyweight (81 Kg) Dinesh Kumar – another first round casualty at the Olympics. This category is one of the most competitive, where both the finalists from the 2007 World Championships failed to reach even the quarters at the Olympics. Now both - Abbos Atoev and Artur Betrbiev are back in Moscow and hungry for a chance to make up for the frustration of Beijing. The Olympic finalists are missing but the bronze medal winners - Dzhakhon Kurbanov and Abdelhafid Benchabla are present and together they make this one of the most cut-throat weight categories.

We are hoping our boxers go one better than Beijing, adding impetus to the momentum generated at the Olympics. Akhil and Jitender have a great shot but let’s not discount Anthresh and Dinesh.

We wish all our Indian boxers the very best for the AIBA World Cup.

Go beat the hell out of everyone.

You can follow the results here.

The following Indian sportsmen have been honoured with the Khel Ratna till date:
Viswanathan Anand (Chess), Geet Sethi (Billiards), Cdr. Homi D. Motivala and Lt. Cdr. P. K. Garg (Yachting Team Event), Karnam Malleswari (Weightlifting), Leander Paes (Tennis), Nameirakpam Kunjarani (Weightlifting), Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket), Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (Athletics), Dhanraj Pillay (Hockey), Pullela Gopichand (Badminton), Abhinav Bindra (Shooting), Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat (Shooting), K. M. Beenamol (Athletics), Anju Bobby George (Athletics), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting), Pankaj Advani (Billiards & Snooker), Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Shooting), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket)

Without taking anything away from each of these athletes, just compare their achievements to those of four-time World Champion, and the world’s most successful women boxer ever, M C Mary Kom, from Manipur. And let’s listen to what she has to say:

I have won the World Championship four times on the trot. (Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh) Dhoni gets a Khel Ratna for winning just one World Cup, I fail to understand why am I being ignored then. How can anybody expect an athlete to stay motivated if he or she is ignored like that?

Last year, when my name was recommended by the federation, I had been shortlisted along with Dhoni but (Arjuna awards selection committee chairman) Milkha Singh struck off my name saying that he did not know, which sport I competed in. That hurt me terribly.

I want to ask him today, how many more titles do I have to win for him and for the country to believe that I deserve the honour?

Don’t give me the award if you think I am not worthy but please don’t insult me with statements like that. It angers me. People should be encouraging but they are not and I have accepted it as part of life.

We just hope that the powers-to-be are listening and ask themselves a few questions.

Update (December 2, 2008): (from The Hindu)
Sports Minister MS Gill on Tuesday said he would ensure that the Manipuri boxer gets justice this time. Gill called Mary Kom to his residence on Tuesday and assured her that her achievements would not go unnoticed. “She has done outstandingly well and I took note of her achievements. But there is a system for these awards and as a Minister, my job is to ensure that justice is done. I’ll look into it and ensure that her case is argued and she is considered,” he told PTI.

Gill has even asked his officials to get an action photo of Mary Kom to be put on display in his cabinet gallery. A delighted Mary Kom said the meeting has brightened her Christmas this year. “For once it is a Happy Christmas,” she giggled.

Update (December 3, 2008): (from The Times of India)
In her meeting with MS Gill, Mary Kom had complained about the poor training facilities in Sports Authority of India’s Hissar centre. Mr. Gill has sought a report from SAI director general Sayan Chatterjee on how to make things better in the camps.

Finals 48kg, Paramjit Singh lost to Abiyev Ceyhun 4-6
Finals 51kg, Suranjoy Singh lost to Najafov Rahim 4-15
Finals 57kg, Chhote Lal Yadav lost to Ismailov Elshan 2-11
Finals 91kg, Manpreet Singh lost to Alizade Elchin 1-11

Earlier, Melbourne Commonwealth Games gold medallist Som Bahadur Pun (64kg), Mahendra Thapa (81kg) and Mehar Singh (+91kg) had to be content with bronze medals after losing their semifinals.

In a repeat of the previous World Championship final in New Delhi, the 25-year-old mother M C Mary Kom out-punched Romania’s Steluta Duta 7-1 to grab India’s only gold medal at the event. Out of the 5 AIBA World Championships (2001 - Scranton, USA; 2002 - Antalya, Turkey; 2005 - Podolsk, Russia; 2006 - New Delhi, India; 2008 - Ningbo City, China), Mary Kom had won a silver in the 1st edition (48kg, the 46kg category was introduced from 2002) and has won the gold in all other editions. She is arguably the world’s most successful woman boxer. Also, what makes this 4th title even more fascinating is that Mary Kom just delivered twin boys in August 2007 and so had been away from the ring for two years. On her return in September, she lost in the final of the Asian Championship in Guwahati. Even before leaving for China, chief coach Anup Kumar had declared her “80% fit.” But Mary Kom proved why, even at 80%, she is still a class apart, winning all her bouts with ease.

The other Indian finalist, N Usha (57kg) had to be content with a silver for the second successive time after she lost 1-6 to Chinese Qin Jian. Chhoto Laura (50kg) and L Sarita Devi (52kg), who lost in the semifinals on Friday, were the other two medal winners.

India, who went in as defending champions with a smallish seven-member contingent, finished the tournament with a haul of one gold, a silver and two bronze medals. India finished fifth at the event tied on 18 points with South Korea but with a better points per boxer average of 2.6.

China, which clinched a remarkable five gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the event was the undisputed team champion with 52 points. The hosts had an astonishing points per boxer average of 4. Turkey (20) beat Russia (20) in the points per boxer average to take the second spot. Canada was third with 19 points.

The Bhiwani boy is even attracting the attention in Hollywood. Sylvester ‘Rocky’ Stallone has offered Vijender a spot on his boxing show ‘The Contender’. Which is a sort of Indian Idol for boxers. Thankfully Vijender is unlikely to indulge in this potentially financially lucrative yet trivial pursuit stating “I have still not decided. Playing for my country is my priority right now.”

While an Olympic hero in the limelight will definitely help the Indian Olympic cause, Vijender has expressed reservations about all the attention. “Why does everyone ask me about my page 3 parties, my looks and my Bollywood interests? No one asks me about my first love - boxing, any more…”

He seems to know what is important and has his priorities right. Sadly the media does not. We here at IndiaAtLondon.com appreciate Vijender for what he truly is… An Olympic hero.

First Preliminary: Beat Wright Robert (Scotland) on points 11:6
Second Preliminary: Beat European cadet champion Mikoya Butsenko (Ukraine) by RSC (Referee Stop Contest) in Round 3
Quarter-finals: Beat Latipov Jasurbek (Uzbekistan) on points 17:6
Semi-finals: Beat Beccu Jeremy (France) on points 14:4

Hailing from the Army Boys Sports Company at Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, in 2003, Nanao won medals at the national cadet, sub-junior and junior championships after which he was shifted to the Army Boys Sports Company at Army Sports Institute, Pune. Nanao won the silver at the Junior Commonwealth Championships in Scotland in 2007 and followed it up with gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune last month.

His strength is his speed in delivering a combo of 5-6 straight punches and his defence. His short height does not allow him as much reach but he negates the disadvantage by attacking his opponents relentlessly and engaging them at close quarters.

Those of you who wish to catch Thokchom delivering the straight punches on Grigoriy, can log on to the AIBA site. Am sure there’s going to be a whole bunch of Indian boxing fans staying up to watch the action.