Indian boxing: The way forward

The Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) and the Indian boxers have regularly been in the news for the past couple of months for a lot of not-so-good reasons. Whether it be the drug scandal surrounding Vijender Singh, or the suspension by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), or more recently the cancellation of the training-cum-competition tour of Cuba, Indian boxing is going through a very dark period. But enough has been written about all of that. Hence, in the present article, we are going to focus on a completely different aspect, namely “which is the best way forward for Indian boxing?”

Well, it all brings us back to the age-old debate of amateur vs. professional boxing. So should India continue with the present amateur setup or should it go all pro? Well let’s weigh the pros and cons of both the setups and see which one emerges the winner.

The cons of going professional include the following:

1. Too many federations

While the amateur tournaments are all held under the aegis of a single federation – the AIBA – the same cannot be said for professional boxing where there are four different organizations that award their own championships: IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO. Especially for IBF, which is facing so many problems following the diktats of just one boxing federation at present, imagine the ruckus that will be created with the onset of professional boxing.

2. Diverse rules

Whether it be the clothing, headgear and gloves or even the number of rounds and the legal blows, there are a number of differences between amateur and professional boxing. Although AIBA stunned the boxing world with its recent rule changes regarding the elimination of headgears for male boxers as well as bringing in the 10-point scoring system with a view to bring the amateur bouts much closer to the professional ones, still switching to professional boxing and the accompanying technical changes may be too much for the Indian boxers as of now, who are accustomed to an amateur setup.

3. Eligibility issues

Going professional will mean losing out on AIBA organized tournaments, most importantly the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the World Championships. Indian boxing has come into the limelight solely because of the excellent performance of its boxers in these famed competitions, and hence the thought of an Olympic without Indian boxers may be too hard to digest for the public and may do more damage than good to the sport. Of course, the eligibility issues may be reducing, thanks to the recent initiatives of the AIBA in terms of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) and the yet to be launched AIBA Pro Boxing (APB); still the professional bouts organized by the four professional boxing bodies mentioned before are still out of bounds for amateur boxers.

4. Lack of preparation

Like Vijender Singh, who quipped recently that the transformation to a professional system cannot happen overnight, for the Indian boxers who have been accustomed to the rules and style of amateur boxing, the lack of training and exposure in professional boxing may spell their doom, especially considering that professional boxing is much more demanding than its amateur cousin, what with the twelve-round system and the much wider array of legal punches.

WBC Welterweight Title: Floyd Mayweather Jr (gold) in action vs Robert Guerrero (red)

Now coming to the pros, these are mainly two-fold.

1. Monetary gain

The boxers can increase their earnings many-fold by going professional. The earnings of Mary Kom or Vijender Singh are mainly due to the endorsements, thanks to their celebrity status. But what about the other boxers who are rotting in the ranks? The $32 million per fight of WBC boxer Floyd Mayweather is nothing but a dream for the amateur Indian boxers.

2. Increased following

Just a glance into the TV ratings of the professional bouts in the United States indicate how popular these fights are. In stark contrast to that, the only time we watch boxing is when a certain Mary Kom is fighting for an Olympic medal. This may change with the onset of professional boxing in India and the immense marketing initiatives that revolve around it.

Now, as apparent from the above discourse, instead of an abrupt switch to professional boxing, the WSB and the soon to be launched APB may provide Indian boxing with some exciting possibilities. So let’s just glance at these two competitions organized by the AIBA.

WSB

This semi-professional tournament was an earnest attempt by AIBA to bridge the gap between amateur and professional boxing and improve the fledgling interest of the boxers and viewers to amateur boxing. The good news is that apart from regular monetary compensation and bonus to the boxers, the pugilists also retain their amateur status and most importantly, the top ranked boxers from each of the five weight categories get a direct Olympic berth. And the bad news? Well, not only have administrative hassles and lack of support from AIBA led to many countries like China, South Korea and our own dear country (represented by Venky’s Mumbai Fighters in the second edition) withdrawing from the event, but it is also a team event; and let’s admit it, boxing is anything but a team sport. Imagine an announcer going “And here comes Muhammad Ali representing the Los Angeles Matadors”. Seriously?

APB

This new competition is supposed to overcome a vital shortcoming of WSB as it is going to be an out-and-out individual event. Besides, it has been touted as having an extremely transparent multi-tiered format consisting of bouts at the National, Continental and World level. And compared to just 5 Olympic berths offered by the WSB, 56 Olympic quotas will be up for grabs here. Add to that the retention of the eligibility for amateur competitions and the superior earnings, and APB will seem to be the perfect way forward for Indian boxing. There is just a small hunch. The national federations will play a humongous role in APB, and if the present hostility between IBF and AIBA is anything to go by, the ride is going to be anything but smooth for Indian boxers participating in the APB.

So what is the final verdict? If IBF mends its ways and starts functioning by the rulebook of the AIBA, APB may offer a very exciting prospect to Indian boxers, especially the younger generation. But considering that the 1^st cycle of the ABP bouts start only in January next year, Indian boxers will have to be content with the present amateur set-up as of now. These couple of months may just be perfect for everyone (read the IBF and the Indian pugilists) to get rid of the skeletons in their cupboards, get their house in order and start afresh. After all, it can only get better from here.