Weight Gains

Humble beginning

The bike croaks and groans under the 62 95 kg weight as Samota arrives for the interview just outside the National Institute of Sports,Patiala where he is training. He isnt a natural on the bike and thats understandable considering Samota didnt ride anything with a motor,growing up. Samotas childhood was spent in Dinaud,Haryana,a nondescript farming village 10 kms away from the boxing hub Bhiwani.

Samota wasnt too keen on studies. When he wasnt getting into fights with fellow idlers,he would be riding buffaloes,or sing the latest Haryanvi songs at the village chaupal. Herding the family livestock was tiring but Samota was up to it. When whistles and cajoling wouldnt work,he often found himself physically pushing the animals in the direction he wanted. Samota says it was this tough upbringing that gave him his trademark ox-like strength.

Besides getting outraged by his sons out-of-tune singing,Samota senior was worried that his sons brute force and fragile fuse might land him in serious trouble. That was when Samota was packed off to Bhiwani by the family elders with the hope that sports would discipline him. The wayward youngster got hooked to boxing and his misplaced aggression was channelised now. These days when Samota returns to Dinaud,village elders ask their sons to follow in the footsteps of the boy who was once seen as a bad influence.

Wrestler-turned-boxer

Samota shares a strong bond with the other heavyweight boxer in the Indias CWG squad Manpreet Singh. The son of a farmer,Manpreet was once a wrestler and his cauliflower ears makes it tough for him to hide this part of his past. As a child in the border village of Palasour Khurd in Punjab,Manpreet would watch the wrestlers train at the local akhara. I had a large build,my nickname was anokha special. So I went to Tarantaran to stay at Surinder Shindas akhara and become a wrestler, he says.

Manpreet got attracted to wrestling because of the incentives for winning the dangals were too tempting. My family is not well off,so prizes were a great help. Usually I would win household utensils. I must have won at least 70-80 dangals during my teenage years and all those utensils will still be in my house, he says.

Despite being a star at local dangals,Manpreet wasnt at peace. He wanted to the join the army but there were hurdles on the way. My family had not wanted me to join the Army since I was the oldest child. But in our village,which is close to the border,we keep meeting army personnel,and I was inspired. I wanted to support my family and a lot of things have changed in my family after I joined the Army.

He joined the Army Institute of Sports in 2006 and took up boxing. Singh soon won a string of medals in national as well as international competitions. A gold at the junior nationals in 2006 was followed by a silver at a meet in Bosnia,before he won the senior national gold in 2007.

Living on a dream

While Samota and Manpreet dominate their respective categories in the national scene,being unusually large for Indians has its disadvantages. Lack of training partners has means Manpreet and Samota have to lock horns in the ring most times. I remember that when we went to China,the Uzbek boxer to whom Samota lost,had two personal coaches,a dietician and four sparring partners of almost same weight. Similarly in Russia,the European champion whom I defeated,used to train with a group of ten boxers of the same weight, says Manpreet.

For Samota the problem is even more acute. No upper limit in his weight category means at 95kg,he is among the smallest boxers in his division. One day I might have to fight a boxer who is my weight and the next I might have to face some one who is 25kg heavier than me, he says.

Most heavyweight category bouts end in knock outs or RSIC Referee stops injury to contestant. And that means dealing with body blows is very important part of their training schedule. National coach Shiv Singh points out that technique is very important for heavyweight boxers. During an invitational tournament in Russia,most of the fighters were getting knocked out. I did not let Manpreet to get intimidated by the sight of boxers being carried out of the ring in stretcher. I asked him to concentrate on the footwork. It worked for him and he won a silver.

From merely surviving,Samota and Manpreet are now thriving and both look forward to the CWG. While they say they understand that Vijender will be the star of the ring,the two heavyweights are also looking for their moment in the limelight. For us success in the CWG will mean that we will get recognition in front of our home crowd.

Both are aiming big. Manpreet is reading the biography of the famous wrestler Kartar Singh. He has got to the part when Kartar Singh on winning the Bharat Kesari is awarded a Maruti 800. He hopes his exploits at the CWG might see him graduate to four wheels. In a lighter vein,Samota speaks about his dreams. For all you know,I might even feature in a music video. It all depends on our performance and after that,even if I sing 100 Haryanavi songs while sitting on my village chaupal,my father will not say anything.