Bangla Stadium Boxing C'ship: Ashish becomes 1st Indian boxing star to win belt

Ashish Raman Sethi has become the first Indian boxer ever to win a Bangla boxing stadium belt. On the fastest knockout of the night, the Indian fighter battled the hard way to conquer the toughest fight of his life in Patong, Thailand and bring glory to the country.

Although a number of legends have contested in the legendary Bangla Boxing Stadium, Ashish set a record by becoming the first Indian fighter to win the title there.

Notably, the Bangla Boxing Stadium is a prominent Muay Thai arena in Patong Beach, known for hosting real Thai Boxing matches, with real champions fighting for prizes, titles and to improve their rank on the Thai boxing scene.

The Indian has never let international fights stop him from setting multiple illustrious records during his career. The Thai Boxer is highly recognised for taking home the bronze medal at the IFMA competition in 2020 in Korea. As a consequence of Ashish Sethi's victory over Chinese Taipei's Jhao Cyun Ciou to win the medal in the Elite Category, it was the first time the country had got a bronze medal.

"In combat sports, the air always has a certain quality. KickBoxing is a deeply ingrained spiritual path that has always made me feel strong from inside; it is never a demonstration of strength and talent," Ashish was quoted as saying in a media release.

The fighter had also represented Haryana in Indian cricket.

Talking about switching sports, the boxer said, "My desire has always been to play cricket, and I was preparing for the IPL. I tried out for under-16, under-19, and under-25 teams, but nothing worked out. I had no success in cricket after the age of twenty-two."

"I took a long vacation during that time since I wasn't sure what to do after my cricket career came to an end. I started practising martial arts after I turned 24 or 25, but it was too late," he added.

The Indian also shared more about his journey particularly about an incident that shook him hard.

"When I took part in hardcore muay thai,one of the TOP television Thai boxing leagues in Thailand , I recall that I shattered my jaw in my third match. I had no sensation whatsoever. I had to wait two months to heal with a liquid diet, then eight months, and I was certain I was losing my mind at the time due to a terrible injury," Ashish said.

Ashish then started learning kickboxing. His local gym provided him with the fundamental training he required. He did, however, believe that he needed to improve his abilities.

After that, he obtained multiple winning spurs in amateur boxing. The athlete won the 2018 KFI kickboxing national championship. In 2019, he won his first gold medal at the Muay Thai National Championships. Then, he clinched the Asian Muay Thai bronze medal in the 85 kilogrammes division, which led to his World Championship Muay Thai win in 2019.

Now shifting his focus to full time professional fights, Ashish talks about his days dabbling in MMA.

"Being from Haryana, where wrestling is deeply ingrained, it was something that came easy to me, and now my journey has brought me to my first Indian triumph as a boxer, which confirms that I chose my sport well and I will continue to box," he said.

"After my jaw break, I was able to win eight out of fourteen professional fights. I understand that every fighter faces challenges, but I enjoy proving that I was born for this," Ashish concluded.