Vijender Singh

Vijender Singh Beniwal (born 29 October 1985) is an Indian professional boxer and politician.

Vijender Singh was born in a Jat family on 29 October 1985 in Kaluwas village, 5 km from Bhiwani, Haryana.

His father, Mahipal Singh Beniwal, is a bus driver with the Haryana Roadways, while his mother is a homemaker.

His father drove extra hours for overtime pay, for Vijender and his elder brother Manoj's education.

Vijender did his primary schooling in Kaluwas, secondary schooling in Bhiwani, finally receiving a bachelor's degree from Vaish College, Bhiwani.

Vijender won a silver medal in his first sub-junior nationals in 1997 and went on to bag his first gold medal at the 2000 Nationals.

After Manoj succeeded in entering the Indian Army in 1998 with his boxing credentials, he decided to support Vijender financially so he could continue his boxing training.

Vijender's parents decided to not pressurise him to continue his studies, as they felt that he had a talent and passion for boxing.

For Vijender, boxing quickly grew from an interest and passion to a career choice.

Alongside boxing and working part-time, he tried his hand at modelling to financially support his training.

Singh cites the likes of boxers Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, boxing promoter Don King, and the character Rocky Balboa from the Rocky film series among his influences.

He trained at the Bhiwani Boxing Club, where former national-level boxer and Jagdish Singh recognised his talent.

The first recognition for Vijender came when he won a bout in the state level competition.

In 2003, he became the all-India youth boxing champion.

The turning point, however, came in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.

Despite being a junior boxer, Vijender took part in the selection trials and was picked for the meet where he fought valiantly to win a silver medal.

Singh cites the likes boxers Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, boxing promoter Don King, and Rocky character Rocky Balbao among his influences.

Vijender competed at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, in the welterweight division, but lost to Mustafa Karagollu of Turkey by a score of 20–25.

"I did not do well the last time because then I was young and did not have the experience. I have just made it to the senior level and qualified for the Olympics. Now I have the experience. I have won medals at major tournaments like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Recently, I also beat the 2004 Olympic Games gold medallist [Bakhtiyar] Artayev [in the AIBA President's Cup], so I have done quite well at the international level. So, definitely, everyone can expect a good showing from me in Beijing."

"Now I have quite a lot of experience after competing at the international level regularly. I just want to say that Indian boxers are no longer a weak lot; all are doing well at the international level. Our boxing graph is going up all the time and the rest of the world is now scared to face Indian boxers."

After the wins in Germany, Vijender's training for the Olympics continued in Patiala where Indian boxers going to the Olympics held a camp.

Vijender was accompanied by boxers Dinesh Kumar, Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Antharish Lakra.

The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) sent a videographer to shoot extensively the bouts involving the likely opponents of the five Indian boxers.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he defeated England's Neil Perkins in the semifinal but lost to South Africa's Bongani Mwelase in the final, thus leaving with a silver medal.

He decided to move up in weight and Vijender took part in the middleweight (75 kg) division at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where he won the bronze medal in a lost semifinal bout against Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev with the final score of 24–29.

As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal.

Initially Vijender was not supposed to compete because of a back injury, but he recovered in time to win the tournament and qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Among his preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was a period spent early in that year when he trained with German boxers in their own country.

This training incorporated a tournament involving boxers from around Europe, in one event of which Singh won gold having beaten a German in the process.

At The President's Cup boxing tournament, which is touted as a dress rehearsal for the Olympic games, Vijender defeated Artayev in a quarterfinal bout.

Speaking after this, Vijender sounded confident of his physical shape.

Talking about his preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Vijender said:

He also won bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as well as silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, all in the middleweight division.

He married Archana Singh in 2011.

They have two sons together, Abir Singh and Amrik Singh.

In order to ensure a better life for their poor family, Vijender decided to learn boxing.

Vijender was inspired by his elder brother Manoj, a former boxer himself, to join the sport of boxing.

In June 2015, Vijender Singh turned professional and signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment.

This ruled him out of 2016 Olympics which would have been his fourth.

He has also been an active politician and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the South Delhi constituency.