Everything needs a start, for getting a start, everything needs inspiration, for being inspired, an example needs to be set.
When somebody wins an Olympic medal in any kind of sport, it inspires many and forces them to take up the sport and aim for the glory. One of those kinds of sport is boxing. Not many used to take boxing as their sporting career as they take up cricket, but when someone wins a crown like an Olympic medal, it triggers people to take it up and follow the path of the achievers. Let us look at the top -5 Indian boxers of all time:
5) Dingko Singh
Dingko Singh was born on 1 January 1979 in a remote hilly village Sekta in the Imphal District, Manipur in a financially humble family. His parents were forced to leave little Dingko in an orphanage as they were unable to raise the little boy due to poor financial conditions. Dingko never had the luxuries of a high protein or a properly calibrated diet that athletes are made to follow these days. Nor was it milk and meat. He used to make do with a meagre meal comprising of some rice, dal and curry while staying in an orphanage. It was at the orphanage where the first boxing chapter in Dingko’s life began. Dingko indulged in impulsive kinds of fights, usually with young boys of his age with the aim of gaining respect within the group.
The Special Area Games Scheme (SAG) started by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) which aims at scouting natural talent from remote areas of the country identified Dingko’s calibre. He received expert supervision of Major O.P. Bhatia to be trained in boxing, paving path for Dingko Singh to establish himself as a super talented boxer in the country. Dingko Singh, now can also be called as Padma Shri Dingko Singh as he was awarded with a Padma Shri in 2013. He came to the limelight after winning the king’s cup in 1997 in Bangkok. He was initially dropped from the 1998 Bangkok games, but later got included. He won against world no-3 Thailand boxer Wong Prages Sontaya in the semi finals which was actually considered as the big upset. He also has an Arjuna award in 1998 to his tally. He also had a tough fight against cancer; about his cancer he said that.
4) Sarita Devi
Laishram Sarita Devi was in the news for refusing to accept her bronze medal at the incheon Asian games. The Indian woman had all her stamina as she was the one who helped her family by collecting firewood when she was young. She took up boxing professionally in 2000 getting inspired by the achievements of Muhammad Ali.
Her medal records at various events are as under:
Asian championships:
- Silver – 2001 Bangkok
- Gold – 2003 Hisar
- Gold – 2005 Kaohsiung city
- Gold – 2008 Guwahati
- Gold – 2010 Astana
Commonwealth Games – silver -2014 – Glasgow
Asian games – Bronze – 2014 incheon
World championships:
- Bronze – 2005 Podolsk
- Gold – 2005 New Delhi
- Bronze – 2008 Ningbo
She was awarded the Arjuna award in 2009.
3) Hawa Singh
Hawa Singh was awarded the Indian and Asian amateur boxing for the decade in the 60’s and the early 70’s. He won gold medals in consecutive Asian games which were on 1966 Bangkok and 1970 Bangkok games in the heavyweight category. No Indian boxer has achieved this feat so far. He started Bhiwani boxing club which has produced 4 out of 5 boxers participated in the Beijing Olympics 2008.
2) Vijender Singh
He is fighter on his own way, achiever in the eyes of world, this puts him on the second spot of the all-time Indian boxers list. Vijender Singh had a difficult upbringing wherein his father drove buses to pay for his children’s education. He was inspired by his brother Manoj to take up boxing. Vijender underwent training at the Bhiwani boxing club under the guidance of Coach Jagdish Singh.
His medals at the international stage include:
- Bronze – 2006 Doha Asian Games
- Silver – 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games
- Bronze – 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Bronze – 2009 World Amateur boxing Championships Milan
- Bronze – 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games
1) Mary Kom
Mary Kom is one of the ferocious boxers in the world; she gave up his schooling after class 8 but attended nios examination and later graduated from Churchandpur College. The success of Dingko Singh inspired her to take up boxing. She started her training under the guidance of M. Narjit Singh in Imphal. She has been an inspiration to many women boxers in India and the world. Mary runs a female-only fight club at Imphal to teach girls to defend themselves against sexual violence. Her auto-biography “Unbreakable” was released in 2013. Mary Kom, the movie released this year and the lead role was portrayed by Priyanka Chopra.
It’s her indomitable spirit that made her a true fighter. It’s her diligent striving to overcome every hurdle life has thrown at her. It’s her passion for life that has made her turn impossible into possible. How else otherwise a girl from an unheard village of Manipur in India could have made it to the Olympics? From a poverty-stricken childhood to making it to the Forbes list of top 100 celebrities in India and a Bollywood film on her life, it certainly has not been a cake walk for the 5 times international boxing champion. But her unmatched determination to not giving up did not let any pessimism come in her way of success.
Her incredible achievements over the years:
Asian Women’s Boxing Championship:
- Gold – 2003 Hisar
- Gold – 2005 Kaohsiung
- Silver – 2008 Guwahati
- Gold – 2002 Antalya
- Gold – 2005 Podolsk
- Gold – 2006 New Delhi
- Gold – 2008 Ningpo City
- Gold – 2010 Bridgetown
Asian Games:
- Bronze – 2010 Guangzhou
- Gold – 2014 Incheon
Olympic Games:
Bronze – 2012 London
There are lot other equal opponents, these boxers are selected in a very minor difference which made them qualify to the ranking of creative coach. Passion, pain, failure, again pain, lots of pain and finally success is the basic mantra of life. These boxers went through all that to be who they are today.
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