Pro Boxing in India to get lucrative, gets Rs.100-crore boost. Sports management company Sporty Solutionz to pump in the money.
Indian Boxing Council (IBC), the governing body for professional boxing in India, has entered into a multi-year commercial deal with sports management company Sporty Solutionz Private Limited.
Sporty Solutionz will pump in the money with the aim of making India the global hub for professional boxing over the next five years. The plan is to create Tysons and Holyfields in India.
Indian Boxing Council to start fight nights from January 2017
IBC has already initiated a basic structure for professional boxing’s growth in the country. The pan-India structure will cover all geographical zones — North, South, Central, East, West and North-East — in India.
Top notch boxers in India can expect lucrative contracts, whereas the young talents can expect incentives and scholarships.
“We have been looking for a right associate for commercial and professional success. Our commercial partners have an illustrious and long track record in the business of sports. That gives us right impetus and financial backing to establish pro boxing as the next big thing in Indian sports,” IBC.
Amateur to Pro Boxing: Vijender Singh
Indian boxer Vijender Singh reveals what it takes to move from Amateur to Pro boxing – talks about fitness, workout, sports science and money.
When it comes to Indian boxing, Vijender Singh is the most popular face in India. After winning glory for India in several international competitions, Vijender has entered the professional league.
Possible to Go Pro
Ready to take on newer challenges (he has even acted in Bollywood films), Vijender is aiming to make it big in professional boxing. More importantly, he wants to show young Indian boxers that going pro is a realistic prospect.
Indian boxers almost never turn pro because the system is set-up in a such a way that turning professional is akin to turning your back on your country. People are scared.
Handling the Losses
Vijender is quite philosophical and mature about the losses that lie at the heart of sports.
“If I lose a fight, I don’t think it will affect my career. I believe if you fall down, you should get up. If I lose today, I will fight again in four months. I never give up. It’s part of sports. It is not about winning and losing. Sometimes you get to learn, sometimes you get to win.
I don’t have any aim like becoming world champion or make it to top five. I just wanted to start something. Maybe I will succeed, maybe I won’t. I am happy with my family, healthy, settled. I don’t have any regrets,” Vijender
Amateur vs Pro Boxing (Unlearn and Relearn)
Vijender has had to unlearn and relearn how to move in the ring (going from amateur to pro). Amateur fights last for a comparative blink of an eye and a boxer doesn’t have to worry about conserving energy. In the pros, a fight is more of a marathon.
“When I was an amateur, I would bounce on my toes in the ring. When I went to Manchester for training, I started doing the same thing and my coach said, ‘No, no, stay calm’.”
In the pros, he explains, footwork is most important to counter your opponent’s movement and make sure you stay him front of him.
Fighters also get hit a lot more in professional boxing — think of the difference between a drizzle and a deluge — so learning to slip punches and absorb punishment was another challenge. Even sparring can inflict visible damage.
“My eye gets swollen, I often have a black eye. My upper arm gets all black and blue because we get lots of punches there.”
Working Out & Nutrition for Amateur vs Pro Boxing
The other big change (from Amateur to Pro) is how Vijender Singh trains for his fitness and what he eats. Vijender’s boxing coach feels Vijender needs to get more ripped and get fitter.
Vijender does his training for Pro Boxing in Manchester.
As an amateur, he says, he would run 50 or 60 km in a week (“they turned me into Milkha Singh but I don’t know why”) and avoided heavy weight training. In Manchester, he doesn’t run more than a few kilometres a week and does a lot of sprints to gain explosiveness.
He also does weights to build muscular strength.
His diet has changed completely too, with a greater emphasis on protein and raw vegetables.
“Sports medicine is in bad shape [in India]. It is rubbish. If we treat sports as time pass, if we don’t treat it as a profession, then we can’t come up.”
Choosing Opponents
In professional boxing, fighters can pick their opponents, something Vijender’s management team of IOS and Queensbury Promotions has done with great care.
For example, his latest opponent Cheka has never won a fight outside his home country of Tanzania. But in order to get a mainstream title fight, opponents with better pedigrees are unavoidable. According to Tomar, “If [Vijender] wins four big fights against four big names, then we could be looking at a world title fight in 2018.”
And Frank Warren, the founder of Queensbury Promotions, had this to say about Vijender in an article for boxingscene.com: “I wouldn’t even mind seeing him going in with someone like Callum Smith (the 4th ranked super middleweight in the world) … that is the sort of test we believe our Star of India is ready for. I know it would be a hard fight for him, but he has got a good pedigree as an amateur and has learned quickly in the pros.”
Is Money a Motivation?
A mature Vijender is smart enough to know money talks the loudest in pro boxing.
But, he says, money should not be the driving force.
“I think your passion should be bigger than money. I love boxing. That’s more important. That gives me everything,” Vijender.
A Lot to Learn
Vijender knows that there’ a lot to learn as a professional fighter.
- His defence needs to improve and he has to get comfortable throwing his left jab a lot more, despite the power he possess in his right hand.”My coach is always telling me to forget my right, and focus on my left. Jab, jab, jab,” he says. “There is a lot of development left for me. I have to do a lot of work.”
- And while champion prize fighters tend to start early – Muhammad Ali turned pro at 18, Mike Tyson was world heavyweight champion at 20 — Tomar does not believe Vijender’s age is a handicap.”Other boxers who start younger have been hit a lot by 30. Vijender has not been hit a lot and he is very fit, so he has got five or six years more.”
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