Boxing

The present performances we are seeing from the boxers of the country is the result of continuous labour of many years. There has been nothing other than incessant hard work and focussed training. I am not talking just about the boxers; efforts have been made equally by the coaches and the support staff.

Today everyone is talking about Indian boxing and how we are being considered to be good competitors internationally. The emergence of new champions, cutting across all categories – be it men’s, women’s or the junior sections, is justifying this. I am confident that our boxers will put up a good show in London.

We should be thankful to the complete rout of Indian boxers in the 2004 Olympiad for all the good things that have subsequently been happening in the sport in this country. At the Athens Olympics, when all our boxers were eliminated in the first round itself, we had nothing left to do during the rest of the Games.

After the entire exercise, we made one strategic change in the technique of punching, which has brought about the biggest turnaround for the Indian boxers. We, coaches GS Sandhu, BI Fernandez and I, got together at the Games. We went to watch every bout and sat down to analyse the techniques, strengths and weaknesses of boxers from other countries. We also watched the scoring patterns and realised that only straight punches earned points.

But whatever we observed, those would have been of no use if it was not implemented, not just in Patiala but in every other part of the country.  So, on our return, we called all the national level coaches to Patiala and sat with them to share our observations and analyses with them. It was decided to penalise boxers at the next national camp if they employed upper cuts and hooks. We caught on to the scoring system early and by using it we benefited and thus the straight punches became popular. Some say that eliminating punches like the hook and the uppercut, the charm and grace of boxing would be lost. However, we need to understand why it is important to do so.

The five ringside judges in the Games always want to play safe. If there is a huge difference between the scores
awarded by one judge varies hugely from the scores awarded by the others, he could attract scrutiny from the world boxing authorities. If found guilty, it could lead to a warning or even suspension.

Straight punches can be seen clearly by all. Hooks or upper cuts cannot be seen that uniformly. Here lies the difference as once there is a space for doubt, judges want to be safe and do not press the computer button to award the point even if they have seen such blows because he is not sure whether his fellow judges have seen them as well or not.

The results started showing at the next major event, which was the Commonwealth Championships in 2005. We won four medals there. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, we won a Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals, and stood third in the medal tally behind England and Australia. Beijing marked a new high when Vijender Singh earned the country’s maiden boxing medal at the Olympics.

But once again the system of scoring has been changed by the international body as AIBA felt that the old beauty of boxing needs to be revived. The judges are no more required to press the button simultaneously within one second to be recorded as an accepted point. The revised scoring system will only consider individual scores of all the five judges. Each judge can independently press the button for as many number of legitimate scoring
blows that he has seen from his position. If he sees a combination of three punches landing correctly as scoring blows, he can press the button thrice. So the scoring pattern will also change.

Let me tell you, we have been very strict in our selection procedure and due to this, one may feel that even good boxers have been left out. We are very clear that there is nothing like seniority when it comes to selection. If one is able to beat the best, it is he who will represent the country.

Our boxers are full of confidence and self-belief, and we are ready with our preparations. I feel three medals will be a practical expectation. However, anything is possible and even more may be expected. All our boxers are talented enough to get medals in the Olympics, but a lot will depend on their draws. Despite that, I feel one from Mary Kom and two from the seven male boxers are safe bets.               

(As told to Mayank Singh)