02 September,2010 09:10 AM IST | | Ashwin Ferro
Absence of a large indoor arena and too much rainfall caused organisers to drop plans to host boxing's first 'fight night' in Mumbai; Hyderabad & Pune get the nod
Beijing Olympic bronze medallist, Vijender Singh was all smiles at yesterday's announcement of the inaugural 'Fight Night - Lagaan Cup' to be held on September 12 and 14 in Hyderabad and Pune respectively. However, deep down he would have been ruing the fact that the glitz and glamour filled boxing contest originally planned to also include Mumbai, had to eventually omit the City of Dreams from its itinerary.
"It would be amazing to fight in Mumbai with all the Bolllywood jazz," Vijender had told MiD DAY during the national boxing camp in Patiala recently.
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were the four cities originally shortlisted for the event and two from these were to be picked. Delhi and Mumbai were hot favourites, but both missed out. Delhi's Talkatora Stadium which successfully staged the Commonwealth Boxing Championships earlier this year, became unavailable due to security issues as the Commonwealth Games are round the corner. However, Mumbai turned out to be a bigger disappointment for the organisers, Percept Ltd and Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. "Can you believe it, there is no decently sized air-conditioned sports auditorium in Mumbai," was Percept Jt MD Shailendra Singh's reaction when asked how come Mumbai was not picked as a venue.
He added: "We had huge plans for the event in Mumbai. We could have roped in some film stars like Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, etc, who are huge boxing fans and the event would have been super hit. But Fight Night demands a 500-odd capacity indoor facility, wherein a boxing ring and other entertainment features can be set up given the glam quotient will feature music, dance, cheer girls, etc. We struggled to find such a venue in Mumbai. The Sardar Vallabhai Patel indoor stadium near Haji Ali looked good, but it's not ready yet. There are many open-air venues, but given the over-enthusiastic rains in the city this year, we could not risk it."
The event's partners Monnett Ispat however promised to come here next year. "I'm very keen on Mumbai because the passionate people of this city will make a perfect audience for an event like this. If all goes well, we will have our second Fight Night scheduled for April next year in Mumbai," saidu00a0 Sandeep Jajodia, Executive Vice-Chairman and MD, Monnet Ispat.
