A blunt boxer born to fight

Max Basnet is considered the best boxer in the current lot of nat'l players

KATHMANDU, July 21: There is much more to the tell-tale story of an injustice done to this boxer of international stature than meets the eye.

Nepal's heavyweight boxer Manohar Basnet is the only civilian player capable of defying the dominance of players from the armed forces in the current boxing scenario of the country since an injury forced Asian Games medalist Deepak Maharjan out of contention last year.

Nepal's 10-member national team is occupied by seven players from the Tribhuvan Army Club, two from the Armed Police Force and one from the Nepal Police Club.

Deepak Maharjan, who spared Nepal's blushes during the 2010 Asian Games by winning the only bronze medal for Nepal in the sporting extravaganza of Asia, didn't make it to the national team this time as he has been recuperating from a knee surgery while Banset was allegedly not allowed to contest in the most recent selection tournament for the national team by the Nepal Boxing Association.

"The executive committee of NBA has been biased toward me for criticizing the leadership for irregularities within the organization," said Basnet, who exposed corruption in the NBA recently.

This photo posted on Facebook by boxer Manohar Basnet shows him (front) performing during a scene of upcoming Bollywood movie Ranvir.

The promising boxer cried foul after he was denied an opportunity to contest in the July 7 selection tournament for the Asian Championship for spilling the beans.

The 29-year-old Basnet told Republica that NBA President Rajiv Shrestha called a board meeting on the eve of the selection tournament and cancelled it after finding out that his name had been registered for selection.

Such a rash decision by the boxing governing body of Nepal did not just dampen Basnet's spirit but also dented Nepal's hopes of winning medal at the international level.

Basnet, a descendent of Kaji Abhiman Singh Basnet, is considered the best boxer in the current lot of national players.

Former NBA President Umesh Maskey sees a great potential in Basnet to win medals at the Asian level. "Manohar Basnet is an outstanding player. He has high chances of winning medals in Asia," said Maskey, who himself secured a bronze -- Nepal's first international medal in boxing -- during the Asian Boxing Championship held in Bombay in 1980 where 44 nations had competed.

According to NBA Secretary Sabin Bhattacharya, Basnet is a 'universal player'.

"Such type of players can change their style from offensive to defensive in the spur of the moment. They maintain a good balance in the game," Bhattacharya had told Republica after Basnet was adjudged the best player during the 25th Men's and 4th Women's National Boxing Championship in December 2013.

During the championship, technically-sound Basnet stole the show with a dazzling display of his fine boxing skills when most of the other boxers simply relied on brute force to win medals.

His technical superiority and awe-inspiring performance that caught the attention of the spectators has a tale of its own. Basnet says he owes his success to a humiliating defeat he faced in 2009 that led him to seek new ways of rebuilding his reputation.

A young and confident Basnet with considerable experience of about a decade in boxing faced his baptism of fire when he was badly beaten by Maharjan during a selection tournament for India's AK Mishra Cup in 2009. That defeat changed his sporting career as he left for India to learn 'proper' boxing with great determination of bouncing back.

"I was beaten so badly that it pinched me a lot. I didn't sleep all night and thought of going abroad to learn new skills," Basnet told Republica.

"After searching the internet, I realized that where else could I get a better training at an affordable cost than India, which boasts of world-class players like Vijender Singh and Shiva Thapa," he added.

He wrote an email to Bhavani Club of Haryana, the institute where Singh learnt boxing, and got a prompt invitation to join the club. Basnet says he mortgaged his fancied Bullet bike and went off to India with IRs 30,000. It was a new beginning for Basnet as he says, "My boxing career began only after I broke out of my comfort zone."

Finally, he ended up in South Paw Boxing Club of Mumbai, where he won gold medal in the Mumbai Championship by representing Darjeeling. He also won the Maharastra State Championship beating undefeated Piyush Yadav and then added the Mumbai Inter-club Championship title to his cap.

Because of his new-found skills and well-built physique, he also got offers for professional wrestling in India where he is renowned as Max. He is all set to debut in a Bollywood movie "Ranvir" which is due to be released in a few months.

"I got an opportunity to learn from world-class players and that is what made the difference. My training in India helped me realize my capabilities and now I am confident of winning medals at the international level. But sadly, I have been denied the opportunity because of politics within the NBA," he said.

His on-and-off stay in India for four years from 2009 to 2013 has morphed him into a player with strength, grace, skills and techniques second to none in Nepal. Now that he has reached the peak of his career, the only thing missing after his four national titles and seven open championship gold medals is an international medal, which he is unlikely to chalk up because of an embargo imposed by the NBA.

With just a few more productive years left in his amateur boxing career, Basnet recalls all the struggles he had to go through to rise to prominence.

"There were times when I had to travel to the stadium from the outskirts of the capital with just Rs 20 in my pocket. But I still didn't give up boxing. My identity is associated with boxing. But if the boxing authorities take away my opportunity to compete what am I left with?" questioned Basnet.

"It is like cutting the tongue of a singer," he added.

Basnet has become a role model for young and upcoming boxers, who can learn a lot just by watching him play. But the unfair treatment he has been subjected to is likely to have a serious setback as it gives a wrong message to aspiring boxers.