Ashish Kumar (Boxer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ashish Kumar

• Ashish Kumar is an Indian boxer who competes in the middleweight boxing category.

• He grew up in a middle-class family in Dhahotu, Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh.

  

• Hailing from a family of sportspersons, Ashish was inclined towards sports from a young age.

• He was inspired by his brothers and cousin to take up boxing as a career. Talking about it in an interview, Kumar said,
  

  I had a brother in boxing and one in wrestling. Looking at them, I was inspired as a kid and my family supported me. My father was already a national kabaddi player at the time. The moment I took the plunge, he advised me on what was required to succeed at the highest level and prepared me accordingly.”

  He also added,

  Wrestling and boxing were my options at that point. I tried my hand at wrestling but soon lost interest. My interest veered towards boxing.”

• At the age of 14, Ashish joined the Sundarnagar Boxing Academy in Himachal Pradesh to receive his initial training in boxing.

• When he was 16 years old, he moved to Bhiwani to focus on his boxing career.

• In 2009, he began his boxing career by participating in a junior state competition. He won a gold medal in it.

• He then bagged a bronze medal in the School Nationals.

• Ashish participated in Youth Nationals and Senior Nationals in 2012.

• He bagged a gold medal in the 35th National Games held in Kerala (2015).

• In 2018, Ashish made his international debut by participating in the India Open International Boxing Championship. He made it to the quarterfinals of the event.

  

• Next, he participated in President’s Cup.

• Subsequently, he participated in the International Boxing Tournament in Stranja, Bulgaria (2019).

  

• In 2019, Ashish participated in the middleweight category at the Thailand Open and won a gold medal.

• Thereafter, he took part in the Asian Boxing Championship 2019 and bagged a silver medal.

  

• In 2019, he participated in the World Boxing Championship held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and lost to Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China.

• In the same year, Ashish participated in the Big Bout League and emerged as the winner.

  

• In 2020, he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after reaching the semi-finals of the 2020 Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Amman, Jordan.

  

• As of 2021, Ashish is also serving as a Tehsil Welfare Officer with the Himachal Pradesh Government.

• He likes swimming and doing adventure sports in his leisure time.

• He loves doing meditation and does it every day.

  

• Ashish is also particular about his physical health and hits the gym daily.

  

• Kumar is the fourth person from his family to become a boxer and the first one to qualify for the Olympics.

• In 2019, he received the Himachal Sports Parashuram Award by the then chief minister Jai Ram Thakur for his contribution to sports.

  

• There was a time in Ashish’s life when he gave back to back poor performances and lost all his hopes. At that time he decided to give up on his boxing desires and join the Police or the Indian Army. However, he continued with the profession as his father motivated him for it.

• Ashish’s father passed away a month prior to his Tokyo Olympics qualifier in 2020. Talking about it in an interview, Ashish said,
  

  My father died exactly a month before my Olympic qualifying bout – on February 7. My bout was on March 8. It was important for me to make my father’s dream come true. He wanted to see me at the Olympics, and subsequently, win a medal there. Now, I have made my first step.”

• His role models are Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali, Floyd Mayweather, and Lomachenko. During an interview, while talking about them, Kumar said,
  

  As far as my role models are concerned, I am very much inspired by all-time great boxers like Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Lomachenko. I follow them to achieve what they achieved in the field.”

• In 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was subsequently, disqualified from the final round of the 35th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain. Not just him, it also resulted in the withdrawal of his roommates Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) from the tournament. All three of them came home with silver medals.