India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, the sport of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

is governed by the Boxing Federation of India. The majority of boxing in India occurs nationally and internationally as

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

, with only a few boxers opting to pursue

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. This has been attributed to a lack of promotional companies, facilities, and revenue. However, India is a regular medal-holder at international tournaments including the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until th ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

, and

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Boxing has been rising in popularity in certain states, particularly in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

. The

Bhiwani Boxing Club The Bhiwani Boxing Club in Bhiwani in the state of Haryana, India came to the limelight in 1982 as four of the five boxers who represented India at the 2000 Summer Olympics are from Bhiwani. Sports Authority of India coach and boxer Jagdish Sin ...

Bhiwani Bhiwani is a city and a municipal council in Bhiwani district in the state of Haryana, Bhiwani was also known as "Gate of Rajputana". Besides being a seat of spiritual learning, the city is at the centre of regional politics and hometown of ...

, Haryana has produced medalists in various weight classes.

Notable boxers and boxing victories

India's

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (born 01 March 1983) is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to ha ...

is a six-time World Amateur Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She also became the first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal at the Asian Games during the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

at Incheon, South Korea. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics,

Vijender Singh Vijender Singh Beniwal (born 29 October 1985) is an Indian professional boxer and politician. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. He also won bronze medals ...

won a bronze medal in the middleweight boxing category, while

Akhil Kumar Akhil Kumar (born 27 March 1981) is an Indian boxer who has won several international and national boxing awards. He practices an "open guarded" boxing style. In 2005, the Indian government gave him the Arjuna Award for his achievements in int ...

and Jitender Kumar qualified for the quarterfinals. Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar, A.L. Lakra, and Dinesh Kumar each won a bronze medal at the 2008 World Championship.

briefly reached World No.1 in the middle weight (75 kg) category class in 2009, when the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) list was updated after 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships held in Milan, where he won India's first medal in an AIBA-WBC. On 29 June 2015, Vijender Singh bid adieu to his amateur career by turning professional as he signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment. This ruled him out of 2016 Olympics as he no longer remained eligible to represent India.

Total medals won by Indian Boxers in Major tournaments

Notable Performance at Summer Olympics

In popular culture

In 2014,

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awa ...

portrayed

in an award winning biographical film about her life.

References

{{Sport in India