Indian boxing in the shadows, former pros seek system overhaul for revival

No sport had seen such a slump like boxing this year. The sport that is among the well-funded and supported by the sports ministry and Sports Authority of India through various schemes had the worst possible year that culminated in zero medals at the Paris Olympics. In fact, such was the situation that until about the last qualification tournament, no male boxer had qualified for the Olympics.

- Indraneel Das @Chennai

For a better future, former boxers and experts feel it's time Boxing Federation of India (BFI) usher in fundamental changes to their strategy to rebuild boxing and its legacy. The sport has seen maximum funding in the last Olympic cycle. According to a SAI document Pathway to Paris, ₹60.93 crore was spent for 17 national camps and 23 foreign exposure trips abroad. The team went and spent almost a month in Saarbrucken to acclimatise before leaving for Paris. There were about eight sparring partners for five boxers and 16 coaches and support staff including a chef. The preparation looked great but results did not.

Former Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Olympic quarter-finalist in 2008, Akhil Kumar, felt there should be accountability. If there is no result, somebody must take the responsibility. Things have changed since their time. There is no dearth of funding and there are more support staff than what it used to be 10 years ago. It is time the BFI introspect its failure to find a tangible solution.

Akhil felt it is time to usher in changes because the system is not working. "It is not an individual game because after a point of time, it becomes a team game when one has to consider the involvement of coaches and support staff," he said. "There will be a head coach, a physiotherapist, a psychologist and even a video analyst. There is a whole team. Not just the boxers and the support staff, even the officials who are sitting in the federation and making plans for the boxers. So it's a collective failure. One must also understand that though it is a team that is working, it is an individual's (boxer) need one has to cater to."