Vijender Singh Beniwal (Hindi: विजेन्द्र सिंह बेनीवाल) (born October 29, 1985)

Vijender Singh Beniwal (Hindi: विजेन्द्र सिंह बेनीवाल) (born October 29, 1985) (also known as Vijender Singh or Vijender Beniwal) is an Olympic Medalist Indian boxer from Kalwas, Bhiwani district in Haryana. He belongs to a Haryanvi family of Jat ethnicity. Vijender’s early days were spent in his village where he did his schooling, after which he received a bachelor’s degree from a local college in Bhiwani. He practiced boxing at the Bhiwani Boxing Club where coach Jagdish Singh recognized his talent and encouraged him to take to professional boxing.

Vijender went on to compete at the sub-junior nationals where he won a silver medal for two years in succession. Having won medals in different competitions at the national level, Vijender was picked to train and compete at several international level competitions such as the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, he won the bronze medal after losing the semifinal bout against Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, he defeated Carlos Góngora of Ecuador 9–4 in the quarterfinals which guaranteed him a bronze medal—the first ever Olympic medal for an Indian boxer.

After this historic win, Vijender was felicitated with a number of awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award—India's highest sporting honour. In 2009, he participated at the World Amateur Boxing Championships where he won the bronze medal. In the same year, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced Vijender as the top-ranked boxer in its annual middleweight category list with 2800 points. He is credited for bringing back the sport of boxing into the limelight in India.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] 1985–2003: Early life and foray into boxing
Medal record
Competitor for India
Men's Boxing
Olympic Games
Bronze 2008 Beijing Middleweight
World Amateur Boxing Championships
Bronze 2009 Milan Middleweight
Commonwealth Games
Silver 2006 Melbourne Welterweight
Bronze 2010 Delhi Middleweight
Asian Games
Bronze 2006 Doha Middleweight
Gold 2010 Guangzhou Middleweight

Vijender was born on October 29, 1985 in an Indian family in Kalwas village, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Bhiwani, Haryana. His father, Mahipal Singh Beniwal, is a bus driver with the Haryana Roadways, while his mother is a homemaker. His father drove buses overtime so as to pay for Vijender and his elder brother Manoj's education.[1][2] Vijender did his primary schooling from Kalwas, secondary school from Bhiwani and finally a Bachelor's degree from Vaish College.[3] In 1990, boxer Raj Kumar Sangwan got the Arjuna Award; as a craze for boxing in India increased. The sport became one of the main job avenues in India.[4] In order to ensure a better life for their poor family, Vijender and his elder brother Manoj decided to learn boxing. Vijender was inspired by his elder brother Manoj, a former boxer himself, to join the sport of boxing.[5] After Manoj succeeded to enter into the Indian Army in 1998 with his boxing credentials, he decided to support Vijender financially so he could continue his boxing training.[4] Vijender's parents decided to not pressurise him to continue his studies, as they felt that he had a talent and passion for boxing. For Vijender, boxing quickly grew from an interest and passion to a career choice.[6]

He practiced at the Bhiwani Boxing Club, where former national-level boxer and coach Jagdish Singh recognised his talent. Working part-time, he even tried his hand at modelling to financially support his coaching.[3] The first recognition for Vijender came when he won a bout in the state level competition. Vijender won a silver medal in his first sub-junior nationals in 1997 and went on to bag his first gold medal at the 2000 Nationals.[4] In 2003, he became the all-India youth boxing champion. After beating a good boxer at that time, he said in an interview that he got confidence and belief in himself as a boxer. The turning point, however, came in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. Despite being a junior boxer, Vijender took part in the selection trials and was picked for the meet where he fought valiantly to win a silver medal.[4]

His boxing style, hooks and uppercut are compared by the media with style of actor Sylvester Stallone as the character Rocky Balboa in the Rocky film series. Vijender cites him as one his primary influences, along with boxers Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, and boxing promoter Don King.[6]
[edit] 2004–07: Athens Olympics and Commonwealth Games
An young Indian male and a female standing side-by-side. The man is on the right and wears a blue-grey shirt and navy-blue trousers. He is smiling looking down to the right of the camera and holds a glass, triangular shaped trophy in his hands. The female also looks towards the bottom right and wears a shiny dress whose top portion is light green in color and the skirt area being silvery. Her long black hair falls on her shoulders.
Vijender with actress Amrita Rao during a ramp walk on a modelling show.

Vijender went to compete at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, in the welterweight division, but lost to Mustafa Karagollu of Turkey by a score of 20–25.[3] At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he defeated England's Neil Perkins in the semifinal but lost to South Africa's Bongani Mwelase in the final.[7] This win led a movement up the competing division. Vijender took part in the middleweight (75 kg) division at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where he won the bronze medal in a lost semifinal bout against Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev with the final score of 24–29. Initially Vijender was not supposed to compete because of a back injury, but he recovered in time to win the tournament and qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[8]

Vijender started preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and underwent training with boxers from Germany. Top boxers from around Europe participated in a tournament held in the country in early 2008. Vijender won gold in one of the events, beating a German boxer.[8] At The President's Cup boxing tournament, which is touted as a dress rehearsal for the Olympic games, Vijender defeated Artayev in a quarterfinal bout. Speaking after this, Vijender sounded confident of his physical shape.[9] Talking about his preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Vijender said:

"I did not do well the last time because then I was young and did not have the experience. I have just made it to the senior level and qualified for the Olympics. Now I have the experience. I have won medals at major tournaments like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Recently, I also beat the 2004 Olympic Games gold medallist [Bakhtiyar] Artayev [in the AIBA President's Cup], so I have done quite well at the international level. So, definitely, everyone can expect a good showing from me in Beijing."[8]
"Now I have quite a lot of experience after competing at the international level regularly. I just want to say that Indian boxers are no longer a weak lot; all are doing well at the international level. Our boxing graph is going up all the time and the rest of the world is now scared to face Indian boxers."[8]

[edit] 2008–09: The Beijing Olympics and AIBA top rank
Picture of an young Indian male up to the waist. He has sharp features, short cropped black hair and is clad in a pink striped shirt and khaki pants with a black belt. The man appears to look a little to the right of the camera, smiling and making a gesture with his left hand as if he is punching.
Vijender at the opening of a gymnasium in Mumbai.

After the wins in Germany, Vijender's training for the Olympics continued in Patiala where Indian boxers going to the Olympics held a camp.[8] Vijender was accompanied by boxers Dinesh Kumar, Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Antharish Lakra. The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) sent a videographer to shoot extensively the bouts involving the likely opponents of the five Indian boxers. A team of coaches went through the video footage shot by videographer Sambhu of the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, and studied the technique of the boxers from various countries in detail, so as to prepare Vijender and the others regarding the opponent's maneuvers and fighting techniques.[10]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he defeated Badou Jack of Gambia 13–2 in the round of 32. In the round of 16, he defeated Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand 13–3 to reach the Middleweight Boxing Quarterfinals.[11] He beat southpaw Carlos Góngora of Ecuador 9–4 in the quarterfinals on 20 August 2008 which guaranteed him a medal, the first ever Olympic medal for an Indian boxer. He lost 5–8 to Cuba's Emilio Correa in the semi-finals on 22 August 2008 and shared a bronze medal.[12] Vijender, and Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar—who won a bronze at the men's wrestling competitions—were welcomed grandly to India after their victory.[13]

In July 2009, Vijender accompanied by Sushil and boxer Mary Kom were felicitated with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award—India's highest sporting honour. It was the first time that three sportspeople were picked for the award; the award selection committee decided to felicitate all of them, taking into consideration their performance for the cycle of 2008–09. Kom and Vijender were the first boxers to get the award which carried prize money of Rs 7.5 lakh and a citation.[14] Both Sushil and Vijender were recommended to the Padma Shri awards committee, by the Indian Sports and Home Ministries; however, they were denied the awards after recommendations were not fruitful by the Padma Awards Committee for 2009 winners. The denial of Padma Shri for them created a furore among masses with allegations of promoting only a few games.[15] Vijender later took up a job with the Haryana Police department which paid him Rs 14,000 per month.[16]

Vijender participated at the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships. He was beaten by Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan in the semi-final of the 75 kg Middleweight category, by 7 points to 3 and was thus awarded the bronze medal. Vijender won the first round of the bout 1–0, only for Atoev to run rampant in the second, landing five unanswered blows. The third round was evenly contested with both fighters scoring on a couple of occasions, but Vijender had already lost the match.[17] In September 2009, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced Vijender as the top-ranked boxer in its annual middle-weight (75 kg) category list. He topped the list with 2800 points.[18][19]
[edit] 2010–present: Padma Shri and Commonwealth Games

In January 2010, Vijender was awarded the Padma Shri award, for outstanding contribution to Indian sports.[20] Later, he participated in the invitational Champions of Champions boxing tournament in China, and won a silver medal, losing 0-6 to Zhang Jin Ting in the 75 kg middleweight final.[21] At the 2010 Commonwealth Boxing Championship held in New Delhi March 18, 2010, he along with five other fellow Indians won gold medal. Vijender defeated England's Frank Buglioni 13–3.[22]

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Vijender Singh was beaten by England's Anthony Ogogo in the semi-finals. Leading 3–0 on points going into the final round, Singh was twice given a two point penalty by Canadian referee Michael Summers, the second for coming just 20 seconds before the end of the bout, leading Ogogo to win by 4 points to 3. The Indian Boxing Federation (IBF)launched an unsuccessful appeal, leaving Singh with a bronze medal.[23] IBF Secretary General P K Muralidharan Raja said, "The jury reviewed the bout and came to the conclusion that Vijender was holding his opponent and the referee was right in warning him. When the Indian team pointed out that even Ogogo was holding Vijender, the jury felt it was not the case." Singh lashed out saying that the penalties were "harsh and unfair. The warnings were unfair and harsh. If the referee thought I was holding Ogogo then he should have penalised this guy as well. He was also holding me. It's a joke that somebody has won by scoring points just out of warnings."[24] Vijender won gold medal in the 2010 Asian games in Guangzhou ,china.He thrashed the defending World champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan 7-0 ,thus taking revenge for the earlier loss suffered to him .
[edit] In media
Four men standing. Middle of them is a young Indian male who wears a shiny orange dressing gown with blue border. His hands are behind his head. The other three men are all dressed in black and appear to be waiting around the man.
Vijender prepairing for a boxing match on a television show.

After his Olympic win, Vijender emerged into mainstream media prominence in India and became the latest pin-up boy.[3] Apart from boxing, Vijender took part in ramp shows also. However he commented that with partaking modelling, he wished to "bring the game [boxing] in the limelight, make it as popular as possible and catapult it to its deserving place at the top."[25] He has regularly spoken against the bias that Indian media has promoted only cricket as the sole game in India. In an interview with The Kolkata Telegraph, he commented:

Thanks to the media, people have started taking boxing seriously over the past two years. Everyone knows my name now because my achievements have been highlighted. Lekin boxing ka toh kuch promotion hi nahin hota India mein. (But boxing is still not promoted in India!) We don’t have boxing academies, we don’t even have proper boxing rings. I have lost count of the times I have approached the government and the sporting authorities for support, but nothing has happened. [...] In this country, everyone is hung up on cricket. Forget about boxing, India is doing so well in other sports too. Saina Nehwal is a great badminton player, the Indian tennis team has just won a Davis Cup tie, lekin hamare liye support kahan hai? (where is the support for us boxers?)[6]

Vijender was approached by Percept Picture Company to take part in the Indian version of the boxing reality show The Contender, as a guide and counsellor to the participants. The Contender is a reality show that follows a group of boxers competing with each other in a single elimination style-competition. The show was adapted into Indian format by international content and production firm, Bulldog Media and Entertainment along with media conglomerate Percept Picture Company.[26] However, Vijender signed the deal with Percept when he was still contractually obligated with Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS), a celebrity management firm who dealt with Vijender's media appearances and ramp walks as a male model. Hence the Delhi High Court barred Vijender from entering into any deal with Percept, after IOS applied a petition to the court.[27]

Vijender appeared on Bollywood actor Salman Khan's game show 10 Ka Dum. He was accompanied by Bollywood actor Mallika Sherawat. Other appearances includes the fourth season of the Indian dance reality show Nach Baliye with actor Bipasha Basu.[28] Although previously denied by him, Hindustan Times reported that the boxer took up a role in the part real part fictional Bollywood thriller tentatively titled One, to be directed by South Indian director Anand.[29] The film was later reveated to be named Patiala Express, which is produced by Percept Limited. Shooting for the film will begin early 2011.[30]

Vijender is credited by the critics and the media for bringing the sport of boxing back into the limelight in India. His rise to the top rank of the boxing world has been an inspiration for the younger generation and has brought more aspirants and followers, to the sport.[31]
[edit] See also