Shiva Thapa has been the lone medal winner in the recently concluded World Boxing Championship, held in Doha, The third Indian boxer in the nation’s boxing history to have achieved a medal (bronze) after4 Vijender Singh and Bikash Krshnan.
The 21-year old boxer from Guwahati, in spite of having acquired a bronze medal in the World Championship, has not yet earned the coveted qualification for the Rio Olympics next year. And in a bid to ensure his ticket for the Rio Olympics in his 56 kg weight category (Bantam section) Shiva must have to be within the top three boxers in his weight category before the Olympics.
And the boxer is aiming at more medals in the International Boxing Council affiliated super series boxing championships, starting from January next year. And in his preparation for the series of championships, legendary boxer Mike Tyson seems to be one of the key inspirations for the young boxer.
Speaking exclusively fro9m Guwahati over phone on Tuesday, Thapa said, “I have been watching Tyson through the television channels minutely for last eight years since 2007 when I started participating in the national level tournaments. So, being one of his ardent fans, I always try to follow his technique and more importantly his training style through internet.”
Thapa was highly appreciated for his brilliant punch which helped him to win the quarterfinal bout against Kazakhstan opponent in the World Championship and along with the medal he received a big reward there.
Mani Pacquiao, the famous boxer who was the chief guest in the final of the World Championship, was impressed by Thapa’s final punch in his quarterfinal bout. Still the former Youth Olympics, said, “It has been a great honor to have received praise from a boxer like Pacquiao. But I was more excited to receive words of congratulations in a Super Series championship just before the World Championship where representative of Mike Tyson owned boxing promoting company came and appreciated saying that he was impressed by my style of boxing.”
Thapa has a dream of meeting Tyson at least once and talk to him. He quipped, “To earn qualification for the Rio Olympics I will have reach semifinal in at least five more Super Series championships. And now my training schedule is to practice for around four hours in the morning and to watch Tyson’s training video for around two hours in the evening.”