The Indian Boxing Federation and its marketing arm Percept is set to conduct its first Fight Night - titled the Lagaan Cup.

India take on England for Lagaan Cup in Boxing's Fight Night

The Indian Boxing Federation and its marketing arm Percept is set to conduct its first Fight Night - titled the Lagaan Cup.

Indian Fight Night is set to showcase a mix of indigenous boxing talent taking on international fighters amidst a perfect setting of glamour and entertainment, a la Indian Premier League.

"It's a lot different from cricket however," Percept's Joint Managing Director Shailendra Singh, the brain behind the initiative, told MiD DAY yesterday after the International Boxing Federation gave the event a nod.

After the tremendous success of India's first exhibition Fight Night in New Delhi last April that saw Sanjay Singh take on Suranjoy Singh and Ram Singh fight Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh, the Lagaan Cup will be a true test for Indian pugilists as they take on a host of English boxers.

The title taken from actor Aamir Khan's super hit Bollywood flick of 2001, wherein a set of Indian farmers beat the British at a game of cricket to save their land, seems to suggest that the show has all the ingredients of a hit parade.

"The Lagaan Cup is being planned across two cities. Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad are in the fray. It will feature four Indian boxers and four boxers from England. Obviously, one of our boxers will be World No 1 Vijender, but the other three ufffd Jai Bhagwan, Dilbagh Singh and Dinesh Kumar are no pushovers either," revealed Shailendra.

Glory days
These are good days for Indian boxing. With over a 100 international medals in the last two years and a six-out-of-10 gold medal-winning show at the Commonwealth Boxing Championships in New Delhi earlier this year, the sport is a rage up North.

However, the rest of the country is yet to be excited. That's exactly what this concept attempts to do.

"The idea is to take boxing to the common man across the country ufffd from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

"We want to make boxing the No 2 sport in the country. Right now, cricket is way ahead of the rest, but if there's one sport that can match up to it, it is boxing.

Lucrative career
"It is our endeavour to clear the misconception that boxing is dangerous and in fact, let parents know that it can be a very lucrative career option for their kids ufffd both boys and girls. After all, let's not forget that four-time women's World Champion boxer Mary Kom hails from India," explained Shailendra.

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