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Former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion, British boxing star Amir Khan was in the country recently, laying the groundwork for a highly noble cause - he plans to establish a chain of boxing academies to nurture the abundance of talent in the undernourished sport in India.
Khan, who clinched a silver in the 2004 Athens Olympics and became the youngest British Olympic medallist, has shortlisted Delhi and Mumbai as possible locations to begin with. Speaking to NDTV about his plans, he said, “The plan is basically to have academies around the world to be honest and India is one place where it can happen. We have been building a couple of them in Pakistan, UK, Doha, Sydney. Dubai is another destination and India is another place. Boxing is a sport which is growing quickly in India and with Vijender going professional, it is obviously going to become bigger. Definitely we want to promote boxing in such a country.”
He added, “As far as the facilities are concerned, we are going to start with one in Delhi and one in Mumbai. I think that's where champions come from, champions come from grassroots. That's exactly what I am doing in Pakistan, in fact, I am building five in Pakistan. We have had good meetings with good people here.”
The 28-year-old boxer was also in admiration with what Mary Kom has done for the sport, considering the impediments she faced: “You need to promote in the cradles. There are fighters like Mary Kom. Nobody expected her to do what she has done. She is from the grassroots. Sometimes, when you build gyms in the city, you don't get the best talent, you have to build them in the interiors. Boxing is a sport which produces champions from the grassroots.” Mirroring her views, Khan plans to extend his reach to the more inaccessible regions of India.
The current WBC Silver Welterweight champion was highly impressed by Indian star boxer Vijender Singh, who won his pro debut in October in commanding fashion. In an interview with NDTV, the two spoke to each other and the Pakistani-origin Brit had high praise for the Haryana pugilist:
