“Give me Olympic Gold and take my life.”
This is how two-time Olympian boxer Vikas Krishan has programmed his mindset. He will not settle for anything less than gold in next year's Tokyo Olympics.
"Last time, I qualified for the Olympics late and I did not have much time to prepare. This time I have one more year to win a gold in the Olympics,” Vikas said during a webinar conducted by the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) to mark its second anniversary.
“When the Olympic postponement was announced, I was not affected that much. I just thought it was a part of life and it happens. I take things very positively in my life,” he said.
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The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist punched his way to clinch a silver medal at the Asian Boxing Olympic Qualifiers held in Jordan in March and thereby sealed a Tokyo Olympics berth.
Vikas is currently training at the IIS and is juggling between amateur and professional boxing.
When asked how difficult it is to make the switch, he said, “It is difficult to switch. Amateur is all about scoring points while in professional boxing, it is about hurting people. You have to do some odd things to win gold in Olympics and be in top shape," the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist said.
“You cannot be doing the same thing as others,” he added.
The COVID-19 pandemic might have hampered his training but Vikas informed that he will be going to the United States next month to compete in the pro circuit.
“My first target of qualifying for the Olympics is fulfilled. Now I am four months into training for professional bouts which will be in September or October. I will come back in January or February to prepare for the Olympics.
“I am training with the best coaches in the world. After my pro bouts, the coaches will find out my mistakes and work on them for the Olympics,” he said.
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Vikas, after Vijender Singh, will be the second Indian male boxer to represent India in three Olympics.
Bronze medals by Vijender at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and MC Mary Kom at the 2012 London Games have been India's best show at the Games.
"My only goal is to get gold in Tokyo and I have not thought of anything after that. I will be in full-time professional boxing and I want to bring laurels for India," said Krishan, adding, “Some years back, some Indian boxers had the mindset that we should not lose in the first round or the second round. Or we should not face Russia in the first round. But my current mindset is whoever comes in front of me, I will beat him. That is already fixed in my subconscious mind.”
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