HE HAS an uncanny resemblance to Mike Tyson. Tell him that and he chuckles, gives you an impish smile and says: “Haan?” Ask him about his I historic gold in Zhihai on
Saturday, he smiles and says it was ‘pleasing’. There is no trace of jubilation or excitement in the voice.
If you are meeting Suranjoy Singh for the first time outside the ring, he can pass off as recluse trying to discover his role in this complicated world. That’s for those who don’t know Suranjoy Those who know him, talk about his exuberance in the
ring; his excitement after winning a bout; that he considers the scars on his body as relics to remind him of his early struggles. Those in the know also talk about his unflinching loyalty to coach Ibomcha Singh, whose photograph he carries as a lucky charm, that he tried his luck in football before shifting to boxing and that he loves everything that’s Manipuri.
As we conversed, one thing was clear, Suranjoy likes to smile and he is no recluse. He is laconic, and needs some prodding to open up, but inside the ring he is different. “I am so focnssed inside the ring, that I feel no pain,” says suranjoy.
“In the ring he is like Tyson,” says Ibomcha. “He ges wild and stops at nothing.” His teammate, Nanao Singh (also from Manipur), who is back with a silver from Zhuhai,
echoes Ibomcha’s words. “One has to see it to believe. He is uncontrollable in the ring.”
Suranjoy won his first gold at the Hyderabad Games in 2002, when he was barely 16, after just two years of training at the SAl centre, Imphal.
“He is stubborn. One day he came to me and said he wanted to challenge the seniors and join the squad. It wasn’t easy as we had some very good boxers. But he managedb to get into the team through an open trial. it was in Hyderabad that he started winning, where he got the name Chota Tyson,” said Ibomcha.
For Suranjoy, those were the best fights of his life. Those are the moments that keep him
going when the chips are down. “They inspire me. Even when I was not being able to find a place in the senior team, those moments kept me going,” says the Asian champ, who ended India’s 15-year wait. As we started to part, Suranjoy admitted that deep within he likes being called Chota Tyson. “Tyson is no ordinary boxer,” he says.
Such is his humility, that even in this hour of triumph, he has not forgotten his coach and brother (Suranjit Singh), who introduced him to the sport.
“I owe everything to my brother and coach Ibomcha who trained me,” he says. He also reveals that when in base at INS Hamza, he trains with Dingko Singh. “I am at the same place. So I get an opportunity to spar with him. He teaches me a lot.”
- He does not forget to talk about national chief coach (G.S. Sandhu) either. “He has been a great inspiration. He makes you feel at home where ever you go.”
light, one thing is clear — he is everything that Tyson is not.
SURANJOY FILES
EARLY YEARS
Hails from Uchiwon, near lmphal, was inducted into
lmphal’s SAI Centre in 1999. Played fotball for two years before shifting to boxing
HONOURS
Won the historic Asian Champiionship gold in Zhuhai on Saturday
Won the 2002 Hyderabad Games gold, YMCA
International gold, Junior World bronze. Won the AK Mishra international gold
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