Bhiwani Boxing Club (known as BBC) was funded in 2001 by its master coach Jagsih Singh who took over from a boxing academy that was run by legendary Captain Hawa Sigh, two times Asian Games gold medallist and 11 time national champion. It came to the limelight in 2008 as four of the five boxers who represented India at the 2008 Olympics are from BBC.
Among the 2008 Olympians, Jitender Kumar (Flyweight) (51 kg) and Akhil Kumar (54 kg) went on to qualify for the quarter finals, while Vijender Kumar (75 kg) won a Bronze medal. Bhiwani is known as Little Cuba in India due to the large number of boxers who hail from the region.
The credit for turning Bhiwani into an elite boxing centre largely goes to an intrepid Sports Authority of India coach Jagdish Singh, who has been at the centre since 1996. He was awarded India's highest honour for sports coaching, the 2007 Dronacharya Award.
Awards
Arjuna
Hawa Singh, 1966
Mehtab Singh, 1973
Raj K Sangwan, 1996
Jitender Nath, 1999
Akhil Kumar, 2005
Dronacharya
Hawa Singh, 1999
Jagdish Singh, 2008
Recent Perfomences
2007 Asian Championships:
4 medals out of 7 for India
2006 Commonwealth Games:
Three medals: Akhil Kumar – Gold
Vijender Kumar – Siolver
Jitender Kumar – Bronze
2006 Doha Asian Games:
Vijender Kumar – Bronze (one of the two Bronze medals for India)
2005 Asian Championships: Bronze Medal for Jai Bhagwan, India’s sole medal
In total: 139 international medals and 295 national medals in 21 y years.
