Akhil, Jitender turn pro, to fight on April 1

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 18

Following in the footsteps of Vijender Singh, Olympian boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar have turned professional, their debut fight night slated for April 1 in Mumbai. 

Akhil and Jitender, both hailing from Haryana, will compete in six bouts this year, starting with four-round battles before contesting for the Asian title. The two are in a long list of professional signings which IOS Boxing Promotions will undertake in the coming days. “Twenty-five amateur boxers will be signed up by next month,” said a spokesperson from IOS, the company managing Vijender’s pro boxing career. “Among them will be the likes of Vikas Krishan, Manoj Kumar and Jai Bhagwan.”

Amateur discomfort

Akhil and Jitender’s pro boxing signing has caused some discomfort in the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), the governing body for amateur boxing in India. The pro boxing promoters have been claiming that they are not contacting the national camp trainees to sign them up and are focussing only on the semi-retired boxers. However, BFI is not turning a blind eye to the development.

In fact, to distract amateur boxers from the glitz and glamour of pro boxing and to keep them focussed on events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics, BFI plans to launch its own domestic professional league within the next three-four months. This league was originally set for a November-December launch.

“We are not exactly perturbed by these latest signings. These are boxers who have either retired from amateur boxing or are on the verge of announcing their retirement,” BFI senior vice-president Rajesh Bhandari told The Tribune. “They haven’t been playing competitively that often.”

“However, this doesn’t mean we are not monitoring the situation,” he added. “BFI has been doing its best to provide the best of facilities and competition exposure to our amateur boxers. We have been holding regular national camps and championships. Indian boxing has suffered a lot during its suspension period.”

Hit by suspension

He is right about the “suffering”. Today Jitender said that the now-defunct Indian Amateur Boxing Federation’s (IABF) suspension from 2012 to 2016 is one of the reasons he and Akhil decided to turn pro.

“Yes, it’s one of the factors. Things in amateur boxing aren’t the same any more,” Jitender, a 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, told The Tribune.

“Indian boxing had got a massive fillip after Vijender’s bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics,” he added. “Akhil bhai and me, too, had reached the quarters in Beijing. Then, Mary Kom’s bronze in the London Olympics took Indian boxing to new heights.”

“But, after that, everything went downhill with the IABF’s suspension,” added Jitender, who will fight in the super featherweight division. “I had been looking to turn pro for long, but wasn’t getting a genuine promoter. I was in constant touch with Vijender to understand pro boxing. I believe it’s the right time for me to take the plunge. It will only help me in prolonging my career.”

Two-time Olympian Akhil, of course, is the biggest name in Indian boxing to turn pro after Vijender. Akhil is a 2006 Melbourne CWG gold medallist, Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist and an Arjuna Award-winner with nearly 250 bouts under his belt. He revealed that he wanted to turn pro in 2015 itself but a ligament injury in right knee delayed his plans.

‘I’d been waiting for this’

“I have had a terrible injury past where my body just refused to take the workload,” said Akhil, who will compete in the super lightweight category. “The thought of turning pro crossed my mind several times, but then I wasn’t keeping fit. I had put on a lot of weight. But now I believe my body is ready to take the blows. I am feeling much fitter and stronger than ever before.”

The organisers have been projecting the fight night on April 1 as the coming together of the famed trio of Vijender, Akhil and Jitender in the ring after a gap of nine years, after their stupendous show at Beijing 2008. Akhil and Jitender, who are serving as DSPs in Haryana Police, have received permission from their department to turn pro.

Akhil Kumar 

• Born: March 27, 1981
• Qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, lost in the first round
• In 2006 Commonwealth Games, won gold in the 54kg category
• At the 2008 Olympics, he reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova

Jitender Kumar 

• Born: July 18, 1988
• At the 2006 CWG, won a bronze medal in the 51kg class, having lost in the semifinals to eventual gold winner Don Broadhurst 
• In the 2008 Olympics, Jitender lost to Georgy Balakshin of Russia in a closely-contested quarterfinal bout