Looking at the state of the boxing ring at the Race Course Stadium here, one cannot but feel for the boxers. They might as well not have it because if any young athlete wanting to take up boxing goes there he will be shocked. There is nothing in it to be called a boxing ring.
The minimum requirement for a boxer is a wooden platform covered by a canvas with the ring having four ropes connecting all the corner posts. The problem here is a person visiting the stadium for the first time will not believe that this is actually a boxing ring.
M. Baskara Seliyan, the boxing coach and secretary of Madurai District Boxing Association, feels that boxing has been neglected to such an extent that he has decided to make sure that the athletes get a decent exposure as well as facilities and equipment.
Through monetary means, he has ensured that players get the basic equipment such as gloves, head gear, punching bags and mouth guard. But he feels that this is not in proportion to the number of players who want to compete at the district level.
Recently, women boxers of the Madurai District Soldiers Boxing Academy participated in the sixth junior and seventh youth State Boxing Championship conducted by the Tamil Nadu Boxing Association at Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district and won four medals, including one gold and three silver.
Mr. Seliyan also believes that there is no proper encouragement for the sport at the university level. Sponsors need to come forward to make sure that this aggressive sport which has got innumerable medals for India at the world stage, continues to prosper from the district level so that more players are motivated to take to boxing, he says. It is very important for players to have basic requirements such as boxing ring, quality headgear, gloves and punching pad for practice.
