I have found the next Floyd Mayweather in Punjab: American boxing coach Joe Clough

In an exclusive to the Hindu, Clough said, “Indian boxers need more good coaches to establish themselves on big platforms. China doesn’t have any history of boxing and yet they win gold medals because they have proper equipments and coaches. India has a history of boxing yet they are lacking facilities and good coaching.”

Indian boxing had been facing tumultuous times of late with two rival bodies bickering over the right to be the official council even as the boxers from the nation were left to fight without any official recognition. The fracas was put to an end finally when the international boxing body cracked the whip by setting an ultimatum in March for a deadline to form a unified body.

The Indian Boxing Council (IBC), formed after the deliberations, is now the official body for the sport in India. Asked about how he sees the IBC shaping up, “Right now there have been some problems regarding finance and the boys are not getting enough fights. To keep them busy they should have fights every month that would help them keep in shape for big tournaments and their first aim should be to win the Indian belt,” he told the Hindu.

Talking about India's prospects in the pro circuit days ahead of Vijender Singh's bout for the Asia title in New Delhi, Clough said, “It has got a bright future if you get the right people, you will soon see your first Asian champion, first WBA champion. In the next 10 years, players could come up with belts, the players should have the desire to learn which will take them very far. So learning has to take place continuously.”

Clough also appeared quite excited about his new find in India when asked about what keeps him motivated in his traveling around the world. “To find the next Floyd Mayweather I have decided to find new talents, which keeps me going and the same I have found in Punjab and his name is Gagan Sharma, a 75-kg boxer and he is very talented,” he said.

The coach also talked about his meeting with “The Greatest” when Ali visited his gym. “The first time I met Ali was when he came to my gym and he was banned from boxing for around three years. So one day a player in my team told me that Ali is coming to our college, Tacoma College in Washington D.C. so all the children ran behind the black limousine and the funny part was Ali jumped out of the car and started chasing the kids, then he came upstairs and started talking. He had his suit on and took his jacket, shirt and tie off and said ‘let me show you how a good boxer looks like’, and he just punched the bags and the hooks came out of the bag and the bag went flying in the air. I thought, oh! so he’s that good and all the children got excited and he spoke to a few children out of which two or three became Olympic champions and National champion,” he recalled.

(Also read - The 10 Greatest Quotes by Muhammad Ali)

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