Who were India's first Olympians in boxing?
India made its foray into boxing at the Olympics in 1948 London Games.
India will field a strong contingent of nine boxers at Tokyo 2020, slated to get underway from July 23, 2021. While veteran boxer Mary Kom (women's 51kg) will be the leader of the pack, Amit Panghal will enter the ring as the top seed in the men's 52kg event.
Meanwhile, Vikas Krishan (Men's, 69kg), Lovlina Borgohain (Women's, 69kg), Ashish Kumar (Men's, 75kg),Pooja Rani (Women's, 75kg), Satish Kumar (Men's, 91kg),Manish Kaushik (Men's, 63kg) and Simranjit Kaur (Women's, 60kg) are make up the remainer of India's boxing contingent for Tokyo 2020.
India, so far, have won only two medals in boxing. Vijender Singh won a bronze at Beijing 2008 while Mary Kom also won a bronze four years later.
But the history of Indian boxing at the Olympics traces all the way back to London 1948.
Let us meet the first batch of Indian boxers at the Olympics:
Benoy Bose
Benoy Bose was in the batch of first Indian boxers at the Olympics at London 1948. He had represented India in the men's featherweight category.
Bose, as a 18-year-old, could not go the distance as he lost his first fight in the Round of 32 against Argentine boxer Francisco Núñez.
He had also participated at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond represented India in the men's lightweight event in 1948. It was the only Olympic appearance for the Ceylon-born boxer.
His run, however, ended early as he lost in the Round of 32 clash against Svend Wad of Denmark.
Mac Joachim
Mac Joachim, born to an American father in Kolkata, had decided to settle in India and represented the country in the men's light-heavyweight event at the 1948 Olympics.
Much like his compatriots, he also lost in the first round, as he was outpunched by Franciszek Szymura of Poland in Round of 32 clash.
Robert Crantson
Robert Crantson was born in Andhra Pradesh in India. He represented India at the men's welterweight event at the 1948 Olympics.
He lost the Round of 32 clash to Aurelio Díaz of Spain.
John Nutall
John Nutall, born in an Anglo-Indian family in Kolkata, was a man of many talents. He played cricket and field hockey in his state but found most of his success in boxing.
Nutall represented India in the men's middleweight category at the 1948 Olympics. He had lost to Italy’s Ivano Fontana in the Round of 16.
Rabin Bhatta
Rabin Bhatta represented India in the men's flyweight event at the 1948 Summer Olympics. It was his only appearance at the mega event.
Bhatta was knocked out by Frankie Sodano of the United States of America (USA) in the Round of 16.
Babu Lall
Babu Lall represented India at the men's bantamweight event at the 1948 Olympics.
He started his run with a win over Allan Monteiro of Pakistan in the Round of 32 clash. But later failed to overcome Puerto Rican boxer Juan Evangelista Venegas in the Round of 16.