Glory inside ring, ignominy outside for Indian boxing

New Delhi: The administration of the sport itself remained in a state of paralysis but Vijender Singh's stunning professional plunge and Shiva Thapa's World Championships medal lifted the gloom to an extent for the rudderless ship called Indian boxing in the year going by. Vijender, the country's first ever Olympic and World Championships medallist, took the entire Indian boxing fraternity by surprise with his decision to turn professional during, what was called, a training trip to the UK.

Certainly not the first Indian to try his luck in the more lucrative and glamorous world of professional boxing but Vijender's move was the most talked-about given that none before him had accumulated the amateur achievements that he did.

So, to turn pro just a year before the Olympic Games, where he was seen as a strong medal contender in the middleweight category, was met with some applause, some criticism and a lot of skepticism.

But he has managed to prove the naysayers wrong with his confident performances so far, including a couple of knockout wins.

With Vijender's departure to the pro circuit, the slot for India's No.1 amateur boxer fell vacant and though there is no particular contender in sight right now, the year 2015 did throw up some exciting talent, which had been around for a while but gained in maturity and confidence.

This breed includes Shiva (56kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg) among a few others. Shiva shone a shade brighter than the rest by becoming only the third Indian boxer ever to win a medal at the World Chamionships.

It was a brilliant year for the 22-year-old Assamese during which he won a bronze at the Asian Championships before the historic bronze at the World Championships in Doha.

The only blip was his failure to book an Olympic berth, for which the World Championships was a qualifying event.

In fact, no Indian boxer could fetch an Olympic quota place in Doha but given the administrative mess, which led to the national federation's suspension for the second time in three years, it was no small achievement to clinch a medal at the showpiece tournament.

In women's boxing, it was all about the return of L Sarita Devi, the former world champion who had been serving a one-year ban for her emotional outburst at the 2014 Asian Games medal ecermony.

The Manipuri came back into the reckoning with some good performances in a training-cum-competition trip to China.

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