Boris Van Der Vorst Urges Unity In Indian Boxing Ahead of LA Olympics

Boris van der Vorst says his boxing heart fell in love with India the first time he visited.© BFI

Boris van der Vorst says his boxing heart fell in love with India the first time he visited. That was four years ago. What he found in the grassroots gyms was passion, discipline and a hunger he rarely sees elsewhere. "Raw diamonds," he calls the talent. He told people then that India would be the sport's next powerhouse within a few years. The former World Boxing president is back in the capital with a different message. He has met the sports minister and the sports secretary and congratulated them on the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medal hauls. 

Winning the Asian Games matters more, he argues, because most of the big Olympic boxing nations are in Asia, and roughly 75 to 80 per cent of the boxing medals in Paris went to Asian countries. He says boxers around the world now carry a knot in the stomach when they see an Indian across the ring. The hard work of the boxers and the federation put it there.

He knows what that work rests on. A year ago, he says, he visited Haryana and saw more skilled, competitive boxers in that one state than in the whole of the United States. The Rohtak High Performance Centre impressed him as part of a full ecosystem, not just a grassroots effort. He credits federation president Ajay Singh for the money put in, and CEO Arun Malik for sending teams abroad. In his view, national competitions can only take a boxer so far.

His worry is that all this could be undone from within. Paris produced no Indian boxing medal, and Van der Vorst believes this generation is good enough to change that in Los Angeles. With less than two years to go and the first qualifiers a few months away, he wants India's boxing leaders to put their quarrels aside. "Everyone has their own ego," he says. 

He urges every regional leader to ask what they can contribute to the Olympic podium mission. He is not asking anyone to give up their positions. He is asking them to pause the fighting until after Los Angeles. "Take a break," he says. In his view, the current leadership should not be changed now, least of all the high-performance setup that has delivered the results. He says boxers he spoke to today are happy with it, and he calls the idea of removing it "stupid".

He also wants the funding to widen. India cannot depend on one man who has put in personal and sponsorship money, he says, and others must step forward. He asked the minister to prioritise boxing, a sport contested and paid for in every corner of the world, over cricket's sphere of influence.

The Former Boxer knows the sensitivity of his timing. The faction opposed to Ajay Singh has questioned the visit and alleged a business links between the two men. Their respective wives are allegedly promoting a business together. Van der Vorst waves it away. He says he is not in Indian to promote his business interests and is here only for the mission.
His own story shapes the advice. Four years ago, he says, boxing was left out of the LA28 programme, and he founded World Boxing in response. The clash with the International Boxing Association (IBA) brought legal fights and a lot of bad communication, he recalls. He paid it no attention and kept his eye on one goal, which was keeping the Olympic dream alive for boxers in every gym. He asks India to do the same.

For the 30,000 registered boxers worried by the IBA versus World Boxing fight, he offers one certainty. Their path to the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and the Olympics runs through World Boxing, he says, not the IBA. He wants them to concentrate on that.

As for Indian boxing, who will be at the helm when the LA Olympics come will be decided by the court in the next fortnight.

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