Akhil Kumar (born 27 March 1981) is an Indian boxer who has won several international and national boxing awards. He practices an "open guarded" boxing style. In 2005, the Indian government gave him the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

for his achievements in international boxing. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Akhil Kumar along with

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang "Mary" Kom (born 24 November 1982) is an Indian Amateur boxing, Olympic boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member of Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Champions ...

as national observers for boxing. He is a member of Haryana Police Service cadre and currently serves as the deputy superintendent of police. * Worked as Nation Observer, Boxing (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India) from 2017 to 2019. * Member: High Powered Committee of Khelo India. * Member: TIDC (Talent Identification and Development Committee) Khelo India (Boxing) * One of the Panellist of the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) from 2017 to 2019 and from 2021 to till date. * Appointed as the Selection Committee Member for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award in 2012. (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award are National Awards. These are the award for the Best Sportsmen in India) * Appointed as the Selection Committee Member for the Bhim Award in 2013. (Bhim Award is a State Award and it is an award for the best Sports person in Haryana) * Competed One Year Regular SAI NS NIS Diploma in Sports Coaching (Boxing): Topper and A Grade. *Selection Committee member (BFI) for selection of Indian Boxing team for international exposures. *

Career

1994–2012

Kumar first competed in International boxing in 1999, winning a gold medal in the 6th YMCA Junior International Boxing Championship. In 2001 he won another gold medal in the International Invitational Boxing Championship in Russia. In 2003, he won a gold medal in the flyweight category by defeating Vilitio M Payla (Php) 20-16. He won a Best Boxer award three times, in addition to twelve gold, one silver, and four bronze medals.

2004–2005

Kumar qualified for the Athens Games by winning second place at the

1st AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 1st AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament was held in Guangzhou, PR China from March 18 to March 23, 2004 in sports, 2004. It was the first chance for amateur boxing, amateur boxers from Asia to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympi ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China. In the first round he lost to Uzbekistan's Tulashboy Doniyorov. At the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, he lost in the first round to Jerome Thomas. In 2005 Kumar won the gold medal at the 4th Commonwealth Federation Boxing Championships in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He defeated Bongani Mahalangu of South Africa by a narrow margin of 18-17 in the 54 kg final.

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games

In the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

he won the gold medal in the Bantamweight 54 kg category by edging out Nigerian Nestor Bolum and defeating Mauritian Bruno Julie in the final. He landed six unanswered blows in the opening round of the final. The second round was quite even, with Kumar winning 5-4. He did slightly better in round 3, winning it 6-4, and despite losing the final round 3-4, succeeded in avoiding the single punch that might have cost him the tie.

2008 Beijing Olympics and AIBA World Cup

Kumar qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, beating among others the silver medallist from the 2004 Summer Olympics, Worapoj Petchkoom, at the Asian boxing qualifying tournament in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. At the Olympic event, he made his way to the second round in the Bantamweight 54 kg category beating Frenchman Ali Hallab on points 12-5. In the round of 16, he beat World Champion Sergey Vodopyanov, coming from 2-6 down in the second round of the bout. The score was tied 9-9 at the end of the fourth round but the judges decided in Kumar's favor because he landed a greater number of punches. He lost 3-10 to

Veaceslav Gojan Veaceslav Gojan (born 18 May 1983) is a Moldovan amateur boxing, amateur boxer who won Bantamweight bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympics. He comes from the village of Grimăncăuţi, in Briceni district, Briceni north-west Moldova, a ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

in the quarter finals on 18 August 2008. He was coached by the Indian boxing coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu. In the AIBA World Cup 2008 held in Moscow, Kumar beat Marcel Schinder of Germany in the quarterfinals with a margin of 15-6. In the semifinals the final score was a tie, 4-4, but this time, the judges awarded the match to his opponent. Kumar won a bronze.

2012 London Olympics

Akhil Kumar was ruled out of the 2012 London Olympics; due to an injury he failed to reduce weight in time to take part in the Asian Continental Olympic qualification tournament, held in Astana (

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

) in April 2012.

Awards

Kumar received the

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 2005.

References

External links

* * * *
One good 'punch' can change boxers' life: Akhil Kumar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Akhil 1981 births Living people Indian male boxers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Bantamweight boxers Olympic boxers for India Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Boxers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Asian Games competitors for India Boxers at the 2006 Asian Games Boxers at the 2014 Asian Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award People from Bhiwani Boxers from Haryana Sportspeople from Rohtak Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing