Former national women’s coach Anoop Kumar to train pro boxers

Former national coach for women boxers Anoop Kumar, who was recently replaced by Gurbax Singh Sandhu in the position, has decided to go the professional way and has signed up with the Indian Boxing Council (IBC).

Kumar will join American trainer Joe Clough, who was earlier brought in by IBC, to train the boxers licensed by the body.

Kumar will be training the women boxers, including Asian Games bronze-medallist L Sarita Devi. Sarita is among 40 boxers to join the 30-day training camp at the Sports Authority of India’s National Boxing Academy in Rohtak. The camp will start from December 27.

“Professional boxing is a different ball game.

Irrespective of past success, calibre and achievements, a boxer requires to unlearn and learn a lot to succeed as a professional. The difference is like a 100-metre dash and running a marathon,”says Clough, the Technical Director at the camp.

“I have said in the past as well that India has a strong pool of talent. We need to strengthen their self-belief and instill confidence. You need to monitor this talent, which has a potential to give to the world the next ‘Evander Holyfield’ from India,” he added.