Birmingham 2022: The fight of the century that triggered Sagar Ahlawat's boxing dreams

Bengaluru, July 23: The 2015 Fight of the Century between legends Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao literally changed the life of India's Commonwealth Games bound boxer Sagar Ahlawat.

The professional boxing superfight between undefeated five-division world champion Mayweather Jr and eight-division world champion Pacquiao on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, was dubbed as the Fight of the Century.

Mayweather Jr won the contest by unanimous decision with two judges scoring it 116-112 and the other 118-110.

Commonwealth Games 2022, Boxing: India Squad, Schedule, Live Streaming, TV Channel, IST Time

Far across in Haryana, the full-page reports of that fight in the next day's newspaper caught the attention of the Sagar, who was born to a family of farmers and had no connection to sports whatsover.

As he read about the two boxing greats and their achievements, it became clear to Sagar where his future lay. And his aversion to studies marked the beginning of Sagar's boxing dream.

"No one was into sports in my family. I knew a little bit about boxing but I felt inspired after reading about Mayweather and Pacquiao and their accomplishments," Sagar told PTI news agency.

He started training at the Jawahar Bagh Stadium in Jhajjar, which is some 20kms away from his village Dhandlan.

"I took up boxing in 2017. I trained at the Jawahar Bagh Stadium," recalled Sagar, who said thae fact that he was not good in studies made him decide to take up boxing as his career.

"I wasn't good at studies. I just couldn't study. So, I started looking for something else to do after 12th class," he added.

The Haryana pugilist wanted to make a career in boxing but had to miss training sometimes in order to help his folks at the family farm. His first big win came a couple of years later, at the All India University Games, where he won the gold medal.

Sagar followed that up by winning back-to-back titles at the Khelo India University Games.

"I competed in my first university games in 2019 where I got the gold medal. I won the gold in the Khelo India University Games in 2020 and then again the next year," the super heavyweight boxer said.

A sensational silver medal on debut at the Senior Nationals in 2021 led to his induction in the national camp at Patiala. Sagar continued his impressive run at the CWG selection trials. He stunned Tokyo Olympics quarterfinalist Satish Kumar before downing reigning national champion Narender to book his ticket to Birmingham 2022 for his maiden international tournament.

"No, no I'm not nervous that it is my first tournament, because I have trained well. I want to fight well in my bouts," he said.

At the CWG, Indian boxers are expected to face tough competition from English and Irish pugilists among others. Sagar may lack experience but the Haryana boxer knows with absolute clarity what aspect of his game he will rely on most to win him bouts.

"I'm a bit weak on technique but my power is my strength. I'll use my power to win bouts," Sagar concluded.

Sagar, who competes in the 92+ super heavyweight category, will be donning the India jersey for the very first time with his round-of-32 clash set to take on July 30 at Birmingham 2022.