Boxer Ashish Kumar: chasing success at Tokyo 2020, burnished by failures

New Delhi: Any discussion on India’s boxing squad to the Tokyo Olympics is unlikely to feature Ashish Kumar. That the first boxer from Himachal Pradesh to qualify for the Games is in middleweight (75kg)—the division produced India’s only male medallist, 2008 bronze winner Vijender Singh—may not make a difference.

Kumar neither carries big expectations like debutant and world No.1 Amit Panghal, nor does he have the experience and standing of Vikas Krishan, heading to his third Games.

Still, if the Olympics are not about chasing one’s dream, what is?

“I have set a Tokyo Olympics medal as my mobile wallpaper. I go to sleep looking at it, wake up and see it first. Why should I keep any boxer’s image and get inspired? I am myself capable of bringing home a medal,” Kumar says.

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He is currently in Italy with the other Olympics-bound boxers for a three-week training camp. They will get to spar with local boxers or those from other countries who have also headed for Tokyo. It’s a final rehearsal for the Indian men who have returned empty-handed from the last two (2012 and 2016) Olympics.

SEEKING VIJENDER

Kumar likes to chart his own path, though Vijender is a yardstick.

“Vijender bhai was a complete boxer,” said the JSW-supported boxer. “He relied a lot on counter-punching and could play from long range. I wanted to be like Vijender. I even went to Bhiwani to learn about him. But I have never met him. I am not so perfect like him. I’m, you can say, a combination of many styles—this, that, everything.

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“I have relied mostly on attack. Sometimes going all out has landed me in trouble. At the World Series of Boxing two years back, I got badly beaten when I went all out. Those are the things I’m sorting out. Also, boxing has changed from the time Vijender bhai won the medal. You have to land more punches now to impress the judges. Earlier it was more about getting points. There would be times when a boxer would land a good punch and then keep evading/running away for the rest of the round. Now, such tactics will earn negative points.”

Kumar, 26, openly acknowledges his weak areas throughout the conversation. There are reasons. Unlike his fellow national campers who rode consistent success, Kumar’s career is about surmounting a string of failures.

For one, he doesn’t come from India’s boxing strongholds like Haryana or Manipur. He took up the sport only because his cousins and late father Bhagat Ram encouraged him. And he was one tournament away from giving it up after close to a decade of futile campaigns in domestic tournaments.

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“From 2007 to 2015 my performance was zero. I gave my all and yet always returned empty-handed. I lost in the 2015 nationals and decided to quit the sport. I felt I wasn’t good enough. I began searching for a job. A month later, the 2015 National Games in Kerala was supposed to my last tournament. I went there for fun.

“There I beat the national champion and went on to win gold. That was the turnaround, but the road was never smooth. Then started a string of losses in international events till the 2019 Asian championships where I won silver, followed by a medal at the Thailand Open,” said Kumar, who trained at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Vijayanagar, Karnataka.

NO GLASS CHIN

“I’m not bothered about failures any more. It doesn’t hurt. I know how to pick myself up after a loss. I have had so many,” Kumar says.

No wonder he was up and running quickly after a bout of Covid. He tested positive before his final match at the Boxam International in Castellon, Spain in March.

“My recovery did not take long. I’m now fully fit and ready. Before going to Italy, we were having intense training sessions at NIS, Patiala. We are mainly focusing on combination punching and speed. At NIS, it was mostly a mixed schedule—strength training, running, etc., in the morning and circuit training (ring work to improve power, fitness and mobility), sparring and rehab.

They then study the tactics of their opponents.

“We are shown their video clips. We are shown where they are right and we are wrong. There are top boxers like Gleb Bakshi (Russia’s 2019 world champion), Eumir Marshal (The Philippines), Tursynbay Kulakhmet (Kazakhstan) in my weight category. I have fought them all. I hope I can beat them at the Olympics.”

That would be some feat by Kumar.

“After the 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Amman, there was lockdown. I am from Sundar Nagar, Mandi. Facilities there are not great. It was only when a local sports store gifted me a kitbag, that I could resume proper practice. So, you can understand. Coming from there, I’m carrying a lot of hope. I aim to be the first boxer from my state to win an Olympics medal.”

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