Happy to be the underdog

“I am not known. Until I win something important,that is unlikely to change,” says the 19-year-old from Karnal,the youngest in the squad barring Shiva Thapa.

Victories over better-known Dinesh Kumar and senior pro Jasveer Singh at the selection trials has propelled the youngster into unfamiliar territory. But the lack of media glare only motivates him to do better and tends to lower the guard of his opponents.

“The first time I faced Jasveer was at the 2011 National Games in Ranchi,which was one of my first senior tournaments. I had not even entered the ring and already all the coaches were wondering how badly I was going to lose. I don’t really blame them since he was a regular at the national camp and I had just come up from the junior category. For a while even I was nervous.

“But then I told myself I had nothing to lose. Ultimately it was a one sided fight — I won every round and the bout 4-0,” he says. The result would be the same a few months later when he won his first Boxing Nationals in Chennai.

No fear approach

The no-fear approach again paid off in his big match — at the selection trials against Dinesh. “I knew I had to beat Dinesh by a big margin. He is a silver medalist at the Asian Games and an Olympian. They won’t just discard him like that,” he said.

Coach Jaidev Bisht describes the bout in more detail. “Dinesh is a very aggressive puncher but Sumit seemed to know when the punch was coming,” he says. A stinging left jab — something Sangwan perfected as a 14-year-old under former Asian Games gold medalist Rajkumar Sangwan — would periodically rock the veteran from range. While Bisht adds that most Indian boxers are comfortable being counterpunchers,what sets Sumit apart is the speed with which he does so.

“He also has a sense of ring craft common to other new boxers — Thapa and Vikas Krishan. That is something that can’t be taught.”

While Sangwan’s achievements,when compared to the rest,are modest — his best international result is a silver at the Youth Asian Championships in 2009 — being of almost same age means they get along well,with Thapa and Sangwan being room mates. “It’s a bit unusual because Shiva fights in the 56 kg and usually boxers of a similar weight category stay together. But I have been with him since juniors. Because he is more experienced,he often helps me out. He talks to me about preparing for important bouts and how to deal with international competition,” says Sangwan.

One for the future

The fun will be over in a couple of days as Sangwan prepares for his first bout at Astana. Regardless of how he does,few are betting against him in the long term. “He is a great prospect but I don’t think he will be boxing in the 81kg category for long. He is young,so he is still building muscle and will get heavier. He will probably settle in the heavy or the super heavy category,” says Bisht.