VIJENDER SINGH, 29 Category: 75 kg Hails from: Bhiwani, Haryana Sporting highs: Olympics bronze (2008), World Championship bronze (2009), Asian Games gold (2010); Arjuna Award (2007), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009), Padma Shri (2010)

Eight boxers plan to make a good fist of India’s Olympic hopes

VIJENDER SINGH, 29 Category: 75 kg Hails from: Bhiwani, Haryana Sporting highs: Olympics bronze (2008), World Championship bronze (2009), Asian Games gold (2010); Arjuna Award (2007), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009), Padma Shri (2010)

Boxers and wrestlers are expected to win a chunk of medals for India at London, 2012. Meet our desi fight club

FOR LONG, the world perceived Indians as being physically weak. But four summers ago, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar won medals in boxing and wrestling respectively, and made the world take note of India’s warriors of the ring.
“Today even the best in the business can’t afford to take us lightly,” says Kumar, excited about participating in his third Olympics.

In London, India is expecting to win most of its medals in boxing and wrestling. For the first time, women are a part of India’s fight club. With women boxers making their Olympic debut, five-time world champ ‘Magnificent’ Mary Kom will pack a punch, as will Geeta Phogat, the first lady Olympian grappler.
The debate over which of the two disciplines – boxing or wrestling – is tougher continues to rage. While Singh, on the verge of becoming the first Indian boxer to take part in three Olympics, says there is no comparison as “just a punch is enough to floor the strongest person”, Londonbound wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, also heading to his third Games, disagrees. “Have a look at data regarding injuries to sportspersons, and it is obvious who the real fighters are.” Let’s leave that question unanswered. There’s no need to pick and choose – only the desire to watch our medals tally swell.

Being fearless is his credo. For boxers, it is the only option, says Vijender Singh. “Once you step into the ring, if you don’t hit your opponent, be prepared to face the blows,” says the Olympic bronze medallist.
Married to software engineer Archana Singh, the boxer does nurse one fear: that of scarring his face. “A week before the Beijing Olympics, Singh got a scratch on his face during practice. He was after his training partner’s life till it healed! His scratch remained a topic of discussion for almost a week,” recalls Ram Singh, Singh’s roommate at the national camp.

That one fear, however, has not stopped Singh from taking on the best in the world and emerging victorious over and over again, including at the Beijing Olympics (2008), the World Championships (2009) and the Asian Games (2010).
Now he is all set to become the country’s first boxer to compete in three successive Olympics. “I don’t want to be known as the boxer who competed in three Olympics,” says Vijender. “I want to be recognised as the one with two Olympic medals.”