Rio Olympics 2016: Why Vijender Singh isn't representing India in Boxing

Earlier this year, it was announced by the AIBA that professional boxers would be allowed to participate in Rio Olympics; an event that has been reserved for only amateur practitioners till date.

This led to widespread speculation regarding whether India's Vijender Singh, now the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Champion, would be available to represent the tri-colour in Brazil this year.

And for his part, the boxer did flirt with headlines earlier this year, when he suggested that he would be open to the idea of appearing in the Olympics for the fourth time in his career, having already donned the country’s colours in 2004, 2008 and 2012 before this.

However, despite the patriotic urge that he was seemingly grappling with, the fact that he had turned professional ultimately worked against his favour in this issue.

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Firstly, any professional boxer looking to make the cut for the Rio games was required to participate in a qualification round held in Venezuela from the 3rd to the 8th of July, something that was completely out of the question given that Vijender was scheduled to fight Kerry Hope just a week later.

Also, the UK-based firm that manages Vijender Singh, Queensbury Promotions, was unyielding in its stance on allowing him to compete again in the Olympics this year. Frank Warren, who is the head of the promotion, even went as far as issuing a thinly-veiled warning, citing ‘contractual obligations’ as the reason why he would not be allowed to compete at Rio.

And truth be told, he was well within his rights to put his foot down on this issue.

As far as comparing professional boxing to the amateur version, they have literally existed on parallel planes up until now. So, while it is unfortunate that Vijender Singh found himself at a crossroads in his career, his management’s reluctance in allowing him to cross-over, even briefly, is totally within the realms of comprehension.

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After all, professional boxing is more akin to a business than a sport. At the end of the day, the men that throw down in the ring are merely representative of a means to an end; an end that is often more beneficial to their promoters than to the boxers themselves.

Unless a boxer’s brand value alone puts bottoms on seats, of course.

That is the perilous journey that Vijender Singh has undertaken, under the watchful oversight of Queensbury Promotions. The timeless image of him proudly holding up his medal on the podium in 2008, backed up by his boyish Bollywood charms, has yanked a country – a billion strong – into wakefulness as far as professional boxing is concerned.

And his management is only too aware of this.

So while their hesitance in sanctioning a patriotic return to the amateur stage could be construed as selfishness, in reality, Vijender Singh not participating in Rio 2016 Olympics and staying the course in his professional career could bode well for India in the long run.

After all, he has just broken into the top 10 in the WBO Rankings for the Super Middleweight category, and he is still undefeated after going professional. And really, much of the momentum that he has generated in his professional career could be traced back to the fact that he achieved glory for India on the amateur stage.

Much like Sunil Chhetri followed in the footsteps of Baichung Bhutia, or like Sachin Tendulkar succeeding Sunil Gavaskar, the nation now awaits a hero to pick up where Vijender Singh left off in the Olympics.

Wouldn’t having him represent the country again be a definitive step backwards towards that cause? After all, Shiva Thapa, Vikas Krishan and Manoj Kumar are waiting in the wings for their moment to shine.

And that’s exactly what Rio 2016 should be.