Vikas Krishan Yadav, India’s lone silver-medallist in the recently concluded Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok returned to Delhi on Sunday. But there was no rest for the weary as he comprehensively told journalists from the Times Of India about his preparations for next month’s World Championships, his last opponent and his preparation in he UK, amongs other things.
Krishan’s articulacy equalled his in-ring repertoire as he opinionated on a number of topics. The interview began with Yadav explaining where that he was very overconfident entering the final against his 19-year-old Uzbekistani opponent Bektemir Melikuziev. His underestimation of the incumbent Youth Olympic Champion led him to be over-aggressive while getting caught by counter-punches.
In Krishan’s own words, “I thought he(Melikuziev) is just a young kid and I would kill him during the fight.” Yadav’s defensiveness in the first round and a point deduction due to excessive bending in the second led to the Uzbek fighter being awarded the winning decision. Yadav declared that the fight was the toughest of his life and it taught him the invaluable lesson of not being overconfident in future contests.
Yadav confessed that southpaws are his Achilles’ Heel, often proving to be the insuperable final hurdles at major tournaments. All the opponents who have denied him championships in the recent past have been left-handed. A southpaw himself, he termed his opponents’ counter-punching as “ little bit different and deceptive.” The 2010 Asian Games gold medallist bemoaned the lack of southpaw sparring partners in India and abroad.
Yadav expressed how demoralizing it is to not be able to fight under the Indian flag. The suspension of the Indian Boxing Federation by the AIBA gave all the Indian boxers no other option than to compete under the AIBA banner. The quandary has also kept Indian pugilists from competing in international tournaments in the past year. Krishan was extremely grateful to JSW Sports for helping sponsor his training in US and the UK.
Krishan lauded the training approaches of fighters in the UK, where he trained prior to the Asian Championships. It gave him the opportunity to learn from Olympic and World medallists. yadav said that the English boxers train for two hours in one single day - a half-hour morning session, a half-an hour afternoon session and one hour evening session, emphasizing ‘smart training’, as opposed to Indian boxers, who train for six hours a day, and still do not have medal wins at major tournaments.
Vikas’ move from 69 Kg to 75 Kg was difficult, by his own admission, but he has been successful for the past 2 years at this weight. According to him, his current weight class is the toughest as a lot of his opponents have the upper hand in terms of power,speed and height. Crediting his speed as his USP, Yadav said that he wants to increase his power, but without compromising on speed. For that, he will have to concentrate on his weight. But given that there are only 20 days lef for the Worlds, he said that it wouldn’t be possible.
Krishan’s strategy for the imminent World Championships is to stick to basics and try ending the fight in the first two rounds, thereby smothering his opponents. A potential trip to Asian boxing powerhouse Kazakhstan is on the cards, but he will go to the UK to train if that doesn’t materialize. Krishan is very focussed on qualifying for the Rio Olympics and is working hard towards it.
Yadav accredited his success to Jagdeep Singh, his personal coach and Gurbax Singh Sandhu, the Indian national coach. With major tournaments keeping his hands full, Yadav sees his family just once in a week or fortnight. His sole focus now is to work as hard as can and make India proud. We wish this steadfast, courageous fighter all the success in the World Championships and hope it endures in the Rio Olympics.
