Born fighter

Subhash Rajta

Manoj Kumar sure knows how to fight — be it inside the ring or outside. Last year he fought the Arjuna Award Committee, headed by Kapil Dev, and won the Arjuna Award by taking a legal recourse. He’s been fighting the Haryana government for the last six years, demanding a post of Deputy Superintendent of Police for himself. And when he’s done with the others, he’s busy fighting with himself, reminding himself how he could have done with a slightly better luck.

Even amidst all this turmoil, the Haryana boxer knows the biggest fight of his life is coming up at Rio. “It’s of course a huge moment and opportunity for me as well as for the other two boxers. We all are training extremely hard and are hopeful of putting up a good show,” he said.

Tell him Rio could be really tough as professional boxers, too, would be in the fray, and he’s back to his combative self. “Amateur boxing is much tougher than professional. We have to do everything with the same speed, intensity and power in three rounds what the professionals do over 10 rounds. So, no worries.”

However, he slips into complaining mode just as easily. “You know I wasn’t even in the TOP Scheme (special funding for medal prospects), nor did I have any sponsor,” he said. “I got into TOPS only after I qualified for Rio. Had they included me a little earlier, I would have qualified a long time back.” Manoj burst on the international scene with a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In the following years, medals dried up for him. Does that make him a little nervous or desperate for a medal at Rio?  “Look, I’ve been a bit unlucky in all these years. I wasn’t included in the 2010 Asian Games even though I was a CWG gold medallist; I lost a close quarterfinal to the No. 1 ranked boxer in the London Olympics; and suffered an injury during the 2014 Asiad,” he said.

“But I’ve been doing well for the last one-and-a-half years, and I am extremely confident of winning at Rio.” 

Manoj Kumar 

Light welterweight (64kg)

Born: 10 December 1986 (29)

Birthplace: Rajound, Kaithal

Achievements: Gold New Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010;

Guwahati South Asian Games 2016  |  Bronze Amman Asian Championships 2013