Vijender Singh warns Asian Games will be tougher than CWG for India

New Delhi: Indian boxing legend Vijender Singh expects the Asian Games to provide a sterner test than the Commonwealth Games and has called for more domestic competition and training camps to help the country’s boxers close the gap with leading nations.

India won seven gold among 10 boxing medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but Vijender said that success should not be taken as a guarantee of a strong haul at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, starting from September 19.

“The Asian Games boxing is going to be very tough,” Singh said in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network.


“Countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China and Japan have very strong boxers. But our boxers are in good shape and I hope they will perform well.”

Vijender, who won Asian Games gold in Guangzhou in 2010, said three or four medals would represent a good campaign for India, with two or three hopefully coming from the men’s team.

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The 40-year-old, who also won an Olympic bronze in Beijing in 2008, highlighted the importance of regular competitions as India prepares for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Sometimes performance goes up and sometimes it goes down,” he said. “I think the men need more competition, particularly at the national level. We used to have many more competitions in India, but now there are fewer such events.”

More regular domestic bouts, he added, would give boxers opportunities to develop and improve their performances internationally.

Singh also suggested that Indian boxers should have more joint training camps with teams from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, two of Asia’s traditional boxing powers.

“We have beaten Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan before, so there is no reason why we cannot do it again,” he said. “More camps with them would be a good idea. That would allow our boxers to learn their techniques and methods.”

The former middleweight boxer singled out Sakshi Chaudhary as a boxer with potential at the Asian Games, while declining to identify one clear medal favourite from the 11-member squad.

“We hope that all of them win medals,” he said. “There are several good boxers in the squad, and I believe they are confident after their recent performances.”

Vijender also pointed to the progress of Indian women’s boxing, saying greater competition and a desire for medals had helped drive their performances. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and others, he said, had demonstrated what Indian women could achieve.

For the current generation, however, Vijender warned that social media could become a distraction.

“Everyone wants to become popular and a star overnight,” he said. “That can take their focus away from training. I think they should limit that and spend more time training and preparing.”

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After their success at the CWG, Vijender had advised boxers to stay away from promotional activities and focus on preparation. He said he believed the boxers had largely followed his advice.

The Asian Games, he said, required individual focus despite the team environment and distractions surrounding a major multi-sport event.

“Boxing is not a team game. Every boxer has to prepare individually and understand that the competition will be difficult,” he said.

“We are fighters. We know that we may have to fight every day or every other day. We know the schedule and we prepare accordingly.”

India’s boxers will enter the Asian Games knowing they are likely to face some of the continent’s strongest fighters, but Singh said the team should not be intimidated by the challenge.

“We are prepared for the difficulty. We know it will be tough, but we will do it,” he said.