Vijender Kumar

Vijender Singh Beniwal (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.



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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.



In January 2010, Vijender was awarded the Padma Shri award, for outstanding contribution to Indian sports. 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. 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. 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. 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." 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 .