“Stand upright, hold your hands straight and bring your chins close to shoulders…Come on punch…”coach T.N. Chezhiyan eggs on the group of boxers at the MGR Stadium as they gear up for the State-level Senior Boxing Championship. The Temple Town so far has maintained a good record of winning medals at State championships.
“Boxing is no more a blood sport,” says Chezhiyan, also a member of the State Ring Official Commission. “Strict rules and protective gears ensure safety of the participants now,” he says. Earlier knock out was the only way to succeed in this game. But today results are based on points scored. The referee, who facilitates the smooth conduct of the game, has the authority to stop a bout midway to avoid injury to a participant.
Till a decade ago boxing was not so popular in the city. In fact it was not even a preferred sport among the city folks. But the State Government sensed untapped potential and opportunity and introduced games like boxing, fencing and gymnastics at the school level. It paid off.
“In the last eight years we have won more than 100 medals at the state and national level and are now preparing our wards to qualify for the international contests,” says Chezhiyan.
Madurai has gradually emerged as a boxing hub next to Chennai in the State. Coaches inform that over the years there has been an increase in enrolment of students wanting to learn boxing. City contestants have also won the best boxer titles many times at the State championships.
In the last 14 days, there has been a spurt in new admissions. Ten people joined the District Boxing Association camp last week. Right from the days of Charlie Chaplin to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky to the much recent Mary Kom , films have been a major triggering factor. “I wanted to become a pugilist after seeing Rocky and learning about Mary Kom. I see boxing as a wonderful self-defence mechanism. My college has acknowledged my talent and given me a concession in tuition fee,” beams engineering student S. Alagurajan, who has just joined the association.
As the sport is all about power, speed, lightning reflexes and endurance, much depends how the boxer is groomed. In the opinion of many coaches, the right age to enter training in boxing is eight years.
R. Sivaramalingam, silver medal winner at the junior schools national-2010 says it is much about mental preparation. “Physical fitness too counts a lot. Different sets of endurance enhancing exercises eventually help the winners,” he says.
Till recently, height was considered a major advantage for boxers but it is no longer so. “If a boxer has an advantage because of his or her height, those who are short also have an advantage of scoring points by hitting at vulnerable points from the head to the stomach,” points out Chezhiyan.
Though some amount of interest has been generated among youngsters to take to boxing, they do not find it easy to sustain due to lack of competitions at the college level. It deprives them of opportunities. The city also faces a dearth of qualified boxing coaches. This has jeopardised the development of the sport in Madurai. “There are not enough detachable rings available for the boxers to train due to lack of funds and patronage,” notes M. Baskara Seliyan, retired army officer who runs a boxing academy. “Once we are able to provide proper facilities for training, we will also be able to produce boxers of international standards,” he says.
But one interesting fact that emerges is many girls have come forward to take up boxing. “I was a long distance runner at MKU. But after reading about Mary Kom’s never-say-die attitude and love for the sport, I opted for boxing. It helped me bolstering my confidence,” says K. Kalaivani, who has participated in the nationals. She has seen the movie and is more enthused about the sport now.
Another reason for attraction to boxing is the employment opportunity. Sportspersons get many appointment opportunities in the Army and the Railways. Recently, one of our woman boxer got into Tamil Nadu Police.
It is for the boxing aficionados to cash in on the new found enthusiasm and encourage young talents to grow. Once that happens, the city would find more Mary Koms and Vijendar Singhs in every street.
