There was a time when boxers were perceived to be a notorious group in the city. Not anymore. Today, there are several boxing clubs in Visakhapatnam. One such is ‘Maradi Mamba’ run by Nageshwar Rao, a former employee of the Steel Authority of India Limited .
In the early 1970s, Nageshwar stepped in to a boxing ring for the first time as a college fresher. Gradually, he got better with practice. Nageshwar says, “Amateur boxing came into existence when one of the city’s first boxing clubs was formed by D James, O Viswanathan and Nakka Apparao, after watching the Anglo Indians play.” As life went on, Nageshwar realised the opportunities in the field of boxing. Inspired by the future prospects of the sport, he decided to teach the sport to his four children — Kiran, Kishore, Kalyan and Sirisha. Rao says, “Boxing is an individual sport, if you put in enough hours, you can be very good at it.” One of the first lessons he taught the kids was to be humble outside of the boxing ring. Nageshwar says, “Heroism outside the ring often leads to unnecessary violence. You are not a boxer outside the ring.” With his support and training, all the children excelled in the sport and went on to represent Andhra Pradesh in the nationals. Nageshwar says, “The sport gave my children access to good education and government jobs.” From the early 1980s, Rao started refereeing the State boxing matches, and by early 90’s he was refereeing the National games.
All the four children are trained by Rao. But Rao’s eldest son Kiran had a special talent from an early age. As a 13-year-old, in 1989, Kiran won his first gold medal in the sub-junior nationals category. Kiran went on to win gold for two consecutive years after that. In 1993, he played his first senior nationals and won a bronze medal. In the next two years, he bagged a silver and bronze. Kiran fondly recalls the late 80s, “You won’t believe it, back then, people used to pay to watch boxing matches.” In 1995, he won a gold medal for India in the South Asian Games followed by another at the third YMCA International next year. Kiran’s success in boxing helped him get a job in the East Coast Railway. He has been a force to reckon with in the Inter-railway competition, winning three golds and two silver medals in six years. Kiran works as a train ticket examiner at the East Coast Railway.
At one of the inter-railway matches, Nageshwar was the referee and Kiran got a walkover. Incidentally, the District Regional Manager was also present. So just to make sure the manager didn’t miss out on Kiran’s performance, Nageshwar called his youngest son in to the ring. With a smile on his face, Kiran recalls the moment, “Without any warning, father pulled Kalyan in the ring. Initially, we were just dodging and throwing light punches, trying to put on a performance for the manager. Suddenly, I received a heavy punch. From that moment, the game was on, and we forgot we were brothers. It was a good match .”
After retirement, Nageshwar has sufficient time to focus on young children who are interested in the sport. In his club, he teaches young students without charging a fee. “There are many opportunities in martial arts, especially with the popularisation of mix martial arts. All I can do is support the youth.” says Nageshwar, and adds, “Boxing from a young age, gave my children the spirit to face any difficulty that came their way. I want to empower other children the same way.”
