IT was unprecedented, yet impending, as if it was pre-ordained. The temple-town of Bhiwani in Haryana has churned out plenty of boxers. There were better pugilists before Vijender Singh and rest assured that he is not the last Samurai. But Vijender’s bronze is a watershed in India’s boxing history, a shot in the arm for the sport. Proof that cricket and tennis are not the only sports that can capture the collective imagination of a country. For this 22-year-old, life has not been the same after winning the bronze in Beijing.
His quiet life turned hectic overnight with felicitations every other day in cities as diverse and distant as Delhi and Chennai, rendezvous with Bollywood stars, shadow-boxing with Akshay Kumar.
He is Indian boxing’s first poster boy, and with his strapping frame, all of six feet and 75 kg, chiselled and toned, he exudes an Alpha-man-like aura.
And the glam world is in love about him. Such has been the spotlight on him there is a possibility of one getting carried away. The history of sports is replete with tales of Vinod Kambli-prototypes. But Vijender claims he is not one. “I am focused on boxing.
I’m a boxer first and I know that if not for my medal I would ha ve remained in obscurity.
It brought me fame and name and I have an obligation towards it. However, I want to use this platform (modelling) to bring the game into the limelight, make it as popular as possible and catapult it to its deserving place at the top,” he says.
Yet in little time, he could have been acquainted with the flip side of glamour. His rendezvous with Bipasha Basu stirred the media’s inquisitiveness, while his decision to abstain from the AIBA men’s World Cup in Moscow invited ire from the boxing fraternity. Resultantly, Vijender is a cautious man, wary of the detractors sharpening their knives. “When you become a celebrity, you have to be careful with your words and action, for the chance of misinterpretation is high. However, I’m still grounded and haven’t forgotten my roots. I have had many ups and downs in my life so my focus won’t change,” he asserts.
True, his path to the top has not been rosy.
Since his childhood, he had to overcome obstacles, first in the form of poverty (his father is a Haryana Roadways driver), then poor infrastructure (dingy rooms and obsolete equipments at the SAI centre), a first-round exit in the 2004 Olympics and a Commonwealth Games gold that was spilled between the cup and the lip.
Despite setbacks, hunger for glory and perfection has kept him motivated. What followed was workouts, sans funds, sponsors or recognition. And he didn’t miss any chance to compete in tournaments. Even local tournaments sufficed. His coach, Jagdish Singh, recollects: “He was talented, but he couldn’t have transformed this to success but for sheer persistence.
Even after his Olympic succ ess, he is humble and not the one to rest on his laurels. We have chalked out plans for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and will go full throttle once he recovers completely from his back injury. His journey has only started.” Vijender is braced to raise his bar. “Gold at the Commonwealth and Asian Games is my immediate goal. Then start the preparations for the 2012 Olympics, by which time I should peak,” he predict.
claim to fame
Bronze medal in boxing's
middleweight category at the
Beijing Olympics
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