Carrying forward a legacy: Nupur Sheoran, 3rd generation boxer from Bhiwani

Chandigarh: Nupur Sheoran couldn’t recall any glimpse of meeting her grandfather legendary boxer late Captain Hawa Singh, as she was only one-and-half-year old when the doyen of Indian boxing passed away. But the 23-year-old grew up listening to the tales of her grandfather’s boxing excellence and rose in an environment where life revolves around the sport. 

Her father Sanjay Singh, a former international boxer, is running a boxing centre named after the legend in Bhiwani and her mother Mukesh, a former international basketball player, left a lecturer job to contribute to the boxing academy. She doubles up as a physical trainer and a caretaker of the trainees at the academy.  

Coached by her father, Nupur, a product of Bhiwani’s Captain Hawa Singh Boxing Academy, has recently been named in the 12-member Indian squad for the Women’s World Boxing Championship to be held from March 15 to 26 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

After her grandfather, the late Hawa Singh, who remained India’s undisputed heavyweight champion for 11 continuous years and to date is the only Indian boxer to have won back-to-back Asian Games (1966 and 1970) gold, and her father Sanjay, who represented the country from 1991 to 1994 and also won a medal in the junior Asian championship in 1994, Nupur is the third generation boxer from Sheoran’s family to don the Indian colours.

“It gives you immense pride to represent the country in the world arena. Coming from the boxing family gives you an edge, but at the same time, it adds pressure to live up to the expectations of being a legendary boxing Hawa Singh’s granddaughter. Hope I will be able to contribute to the family’s boxing legacy by making it to the podium at the world championship,” says Nupur, who stands six feet one inch tall. 

She will be punching her way in the +81kg weight category in the coming world meet. 

“In India, ours is the only family whose third generation has made it to the international level in boxing and it makes me a proud father that my daughter is carrying forward the family legacy. My boxing career was cut short because of a back injury, but I am confident that Nupur will touch new heights in the sport,” added father-cum-coach Sanjay, who got Haryana’s highest sporting honour Bhim Award in 1994.  

Nupur’s grandfather Captain Hawa Singh joined the Indian army at the age of 19 and before being recruited into the services he didn’t have any exposure to the sport. He became the national champion at the age of 23 and rose to become the country’s biggest name in boxing of his time. He was conferred with the Arjuna award in 1966.

After retiring from the Army, he joined the Sports Authority of India’s centre in Bhiwani as a coach in 1986. Captain Hawa Singh has been credited for laying the foundation of Bhiwani being named a ‘mini Cuba’. 

He was conferred with the country’s highest coaching honour Dronacharya award in 2000. Unfortunately, Hawa Sing passed away just two weeks before the award ceremony and his wife Angoori Devi received the prestigious honour on his behalf.

“Even today my grandfather is synonymous with boxing in Bhiwani. He had a great contribution to placing the city on the world boxing map. Whenever I visit our native village Umarwas in Bhiwani or meet his former trainees, who have also risen to well-known names in the sport, they would always make me remember that my grandfather was a legend and I have to be like him. Being Captain Hawa Singh’s granddaughter gives me a distinct identity, but I have to work harder to maintain that legacy,” said Nupur, who switched over from 75kg (middleweight) to +81 kg (heavyweight category) last year. 

“What I heard about my grandfather’s boxing was that though he was a heavyweight boxer, his footwork speed was like a lightweight boxer. I try to follow him and the increased weight has no impact on my speed and footwork is my strength.”

Returning from injury – making a strong comeback

Nupur had earlier represented India in the 2019 Asian Championship in 75kg. But last year in October, a couple of months before the national championship, she had a ligament injury in her ankle. The injury forced her to remain almost out of action for around one and a half months. Because of the plaster on her ankle, she had a restricted moment. She gained weight and decided to switch over to +81kg.

Nupur made a strong comeback and won the national title in her new weight category.  

“After healing from the ankle injury, the doctor advised me not to put too much pressure on the ankle and avoid running. Losing weight was not feasible in that condition and the time frame was also limited. So, I decided to go shift to the heavyweight category during the Inter-Railway tournament. I won the trials and was picked to represent the Railways in the nationals and eventually went on to win gold in December-2022,” said Nupur, who also remained a meritorious student in academics.  

She scored 92 per cent in the arts stream in the 12th board and 73 per cent in her graduation.

“Initially, I was more interested in academies and when I was in class 10th my father asked me if I would like to participate in a state youth championship that was taking place in Bhiwani. Before that, I had never been into a competitive sport and my exposure to the sport was more like a hobby. But living in a boxing environment gave me an edge and my height was a great advantage. I won the state championship and went on to grab gold in the Youth Nationals.” 

“Even after winning the national gold, I was not serious about boxing, but a defeat in the Inter-university championship in 2018 changed my perspective and after that, I started taking the sport seriously. Now, boxing is my life and I want to make a name in the sport,” added Nupur, who got a job in Indian Railways under the sports quota.