BENGALURU: Often there are tales of triumph over hardships that inspire and motivate others to rise against all odds. One such story is that of Mujtaba Kamal a former national level boxer who has made Bengaluru his base since the past one year and has big plans to promote professional boxing here.
From donning his first pair of gloves at the age of nine and practising in dingy gyms of Kidderpore, a not so well-to-do neighborhood in Kolkata, to winning many national level medals and training the likes of actors such as Sonakshi Sinha and Shahid Kapoor, Mujtaba has come a long way.
“I was interested in boxing very early in life. Although I first started out as a footballer. I was never interested in books and only studied till high school,” he says. Mujtaba realised his strength and interest lay in boxing and decided that this was what he would pursue. “Being from a poor family I rationalised this would be my ticket out of hardships,” he says.
With big ambitions, Mujtaba started training for and participating in many state and national level events in the junior and senior level.
Beginning in 1994, he would go on to impress and win a number of national-level events and represent the country abroad in many boxing tournaments."I won 11 medals in various categories at the national level. I won the best boxer award in the under 19 category in 2000 and 2001. I went to senior and junior level tournaments to Cuba and Bulgaria and won the gold medal in the Asian Boxing Championship of 2001," he adds.
Mujtaba has four siblings. His father passed away a few days after he was born. His mother with great hardship supported the family, but she too passed away while he was still a teenager. It, therefore, was not easy pursuing his dreams while also looking after his family. He left amateur boxing in 2005 and went to Hong Kong and Singapore to compete; while at the same time working as a waiter, cleaner to make ends meet. A severe injury to his jaw during one of his fights around this time ended his professional boxing career.
Never one to give up hope, he turned his attention to coaching and to helping others realise the dream of making it big in pro boxing. Mujtaba has been the only coach of India's most well known professional boxer Neeraj Goyat. This was before he was approached to participate in the first Super Fight League, a mixed martial arts tournament. He was the coach for the Harayana Team.
Now in Bengaluru, Mujtaba is the head coach of boxing for a chain of gyms and wants to use his influence and skills for the better. “I want to make Bengaluru a big centre for boxing and inspire more budding boxers to go pro,” says Mujtaba.