New Punch Mantra

Apart from the scoring rules,AIBA has also inducted a clause that penalises boxers applying defensive tactics for too long,and giving a standing count for persisting. Aggression is being rewarded and the recent spate of high scoring matches reflects just that.

Aggression pays

Rajkumar Sangwan,gold medal winner in the super-heavyweight category of the Asian Games,believes the rules will encourage the growth of the old kinetic style of boxing. “After the Athens Olympics in 2004,keeping a shell guard didn’t get penalised. Instead of weaving,bobbing and ducking,boxers simply put their hands in front of their face. Now with these new rules,aggressive boxers will finally get a fair deal,” says Sangwan.

It is an assessment Akhil Kumar agrees with. “During the Beijing Olympics when I was fighting the boxer from Moldova,I was hitting him with uppercuts,but because it was all at close quarters,my body was blocking the view of the judges. Now that is much less of a worry,” says Akhil,currently training at the NIS,Patiala for the Arafura Games to be held in Australia.

Also going to the Arafura is Beijing Olympics bronze medalist and Asian Games gold medalist Vijender Singh. For the 25-year-old poster boy of Indian boxing,the Australia tour will provide an opportunity to get a first-hand feel of the new rules.

Vijender,though,may find it tough to adjust. Considering that the World No.1 Indian’s counter punching style sees him fight from a tight shell guard,he can be pulled up by the referee for being overtly defensive. “Boxing is a simple game of punching. If I throw punches,and I land them,then I will be all right,” Vijender says.

Sangwan,however,sounds a note of caution. “We know that the majority of the Indian boxers are counter-punchers. We have to remember that if we become aggressive,other boxers will also become aggressive. The boxers should keep practicing various styles of punching and with time,they will adjust,” he says.

Back to the basics

Indeed,the boxing camp at NIS seems to have reverted to a refresher program. In addition to sparring longer,boxers are pulling out old manuals in the hope of relearning their basic skills. “Most of the young pugilists associate boxing with only three punches,straight,hook and upper cut. But there are 12 techniques of punching which are in essence a combination with both fists of these three punches. Young boxers have to relearn defensive tactics too. They use shell guard only,but now they will have to rely on movements like swaying,evading,side step and side blocking too,” says Akhil.

Vijender and a few others are also speaking to those who have boxed under the new rules during the Winners Cup in Serbia last month,in order to get an idea of possible strategies to deal with the new system.

Fighting blind

Besides the new scoring format,the other big change that AIBA has introduced concerns the elimination of live scoring during a round. This has resulted in the boxers having no idea if they are leading or trailing while they are in the middle of a fight. That in turn means they can’t retreat to safety if they know they are on top. Earlier,too the boxer couldn’t see the scoreboard where the points used to get updated but the crowd reaction gave them an idea about their tally. But now,the days of the live scoreboard — either at the venue or on television — are over.

Paramjit Samota who won gold the Commonwealth Games,said that it was difficult getting used to boxing without knowing the score. “During the fight,I didn’t know whether I was ahead of my opponent or behind. I kept looking at my coach Jaidev Bisht,but even he did not know. In a fight,I usually throw about 20 punches. But because I was uncertain I ended up having to throw 30-40 punches. That means that we will have to work a lot more on our endurance as well.”

But there is a plus side to being clueless about scores. For 17-year-old Shiva Thapa,who beat defending world Champion Delakliev Detelin,the lack of a live score made sure he was never under pressure despite trailing in the first two rounds. “I was trailing by two points at the start of the final round. Once the bell rang,I did not know how I was doing. It made me go for more punches and my whole concentration was on playing my game.”

These are still early days for the Indian boxers under the new rules. And despite the early success in Serbia,there are more than six tournaments including a tour to Cuba before the pre-Olympic qualifiers in September this year. The team and coaching staff are hoping that the boxers will soon adjust to the new rules,or at least learn the tricks of the trade faster than their counterparts from other countries.

‘Boxers will be more aggressive,which is good for the game’

Coaching the Indian boxing team for over two decades,Cuban BI Fernandez has been a big reason behind their success. Fernandez,who lives in the NIS premises along with the boxers,told Nitin Sharma that the new scoring system will make the sport more competitive and a combination of punches will be the key to Indian boxers’ success.

What will be the impact of these new rules on amateur boxing?

Boxing will become a lot more competitive with these changes. Individual scoring will mean that judges will be more independent to give points and hence more scoring punches will be counted. In an attempt to gather more points,boxers will fight more aggressively and it will be good for the game,which had slowed down in the past few years.

How are the Indian boxers adapting to this?

We had many practice sessions after the new rules were implemented. Boxers such as Vijender and Akhil are keen to learn the new tactics and the youngsters are also following them. We need to spend more time on the punching techniques. IBF has been organising camps to give the know-how to coaches and that will help the players too. In the new scenario,a combination of punches will work best and hence we have to try various styles.

Are there any special coaching techniques that you will be adopting?

We are spending time with the whole team,studying and analysing their videos. The coaches can focus on increasing the speed of punches so that a boxer can learn to hit more punches in the same time frame. Also,we need to sharpen reflexes and they often play football after practice to do that.

The World Championships in Busan in September will offer boxers quota places for London Olympics. How do you see the roadmap for the Indian team ahead?

One of our main focus is to give as much exposure to the team as possible. We will be going to Cuba in May and that place has always been a learning experience for the boxers. Last time we went,most of the boxers met Felix Savon. Apart from taking tips from him,most youngsters were delighted to meet him. Meetings like these motivate young boxers a lot. The Kazakhstan trip will also be important for the boxers as most Asian countries will be participating and they have good boxers too.