It was only in 2019 when Karthik Sathish began his professional boxing journey but the boxer from Tamil Nadu has already made a name for himself in the boxing news for both domestic and international circuits. From his debut in Thailand where Karthik registered his first professional win to facing Mohamed Pesa at the Caesars Palace in Dubai and being ranked 4th in the BoxRec Lightweight rankings, he has already come a long way and is driven to go even further!

In this exclusive interview with SPOGO, Karthik Sathish speaks about his boxing journey, overcoming challenges, experiences at the Army Public School in Bangalore, Mr. Mujtaba Kamal’s role in his career, being an inspiration and future goals.

Q 1) As someone who started his professional boxing journey in 2019, when were you first introduced to boxing? What about the sport motivated you to take it up professionally?

I started boxing accidentally and just like every Indian kid, I started playing sports with cricket. I came across someone giving free boxing lessons and just out of curiosity I decided to try it out. As my interest grew, I started boxing everyday, that’s how my journey started and boxing changed my life.

Q 2) How was the experience that you gained at the Army Public School in Bangalore? How did that benefit you in your professional career?

It was very challenging for me because after boxing for only one year I was selected for the Army Public School and my trainer was the National Chief Coach for the Under 19 team. Training under him was pretty hard and all my colleagues were from different states. There were people from Haryana, Manipur, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and it was a new experience for me to use my skills in training with other people. You learn many new things when you train with other people and they pushed me hard to improve. It was a good experience overall and helped me improve my skills in different ways. I gained knowledge about boxing from people who were from different places and it was an honour to train with such experienced people and it motivated me to train hard. It made it easier for me to compete at the state and national level because of this experience. There were 40-50 people all over India and it taught me not to be intimidated by who I’m competing against because I was used to training with different people in my hostel.

Q 3) How important of a role has your mentor and coach Mr. Mujtaba Kamal played in your career?

I would really like to thank him, because when I was under another sponsorship and I was playing amateur boxing, I was in a difficult situation where I was working to support my family and at the same time pursuing a sport that had given me respect, knowledge and achievements so I could not give it up. Mr. Mujtaba Kamal gave me a job and gave me a path where I could compete in boxing professionally. Whatever I’m doing today in my professional boxing career is because of Mr. Mujtaba Kamal. He is my mentor, trainer and a promoter as well. At  the end of the year I will be competing for the Asian title belt and he is making a roadmap about everything that I need to do today or tomorrow that I will follow for the next three years. I’m very thankful to him.

Q 4) What are some of the challenges that you have faced in your career so far? How did you overcome them?

I started amateur boxing at the Army Public School and it was challenging for me to train there. The people were very strong both mentally and physically. I was very young at the time too and I didn't know how to react or how to take them on. Facing that kind of level at such an early stage for myself taught me a lot of lessons and I ended up learning a lot.

I was responsible for my family as well, I needed to support them and I went through a lot of tough times, and because of all that there was a time where I wasn’t able to focus properly on boxing or my work. I lost my focus as I was living as a bachelor by myself in Bangalore and not only did I have to work, box and train, I also had to look after myself. I had to cook for myself and do the daily chores with no help from anyone else whatsoever.

I find myself fortunate to be a part of Simply Sport because if it wasn’t for them I would not have got all the nutrients and supplements that my body needed to perform, they provided me with the mental support I needed to be strong and to be a good boxer. They made available for me everything and anything I needed to focus on myself and my future goals as a sportsperson.

Q 5) As the first boxer from Tamil Nadu to compete in the Under 19 World Cup, how do you hope to promote the sport in the state and mentor junior boxers?

I am very proud of myself for becoming the first ever boxer from Tamil Nadu. I want to make sure that I am not the last. So far, there has been no upcoming boxer from Tamil Nadu except me but I try my best even the smallest of Championships so that people see me and get inspired. I want kids from Tamil Nadu to train and get so good that they participate in higher level competitions. I want to make boxing popular so that people become aware of the sport and want to participate. The hope of even becoming a small role model to someone pushes me to do better and I hope that someday I can inspire that.

Q 6) What are your goals and aspirations for the future? How would you like to accomplish them?

That is a two part answer. I have set a small scale 1 year goal for myself alongside the big goal. As of now, I want to compete at the Asian Championship Belt and win it. Once I’ve achieved that I'll become number one in Asia in Pro Boxing. Then, I will move into amateur boxing and participate in the 2024 Olympics. So far I’m getting full support from the Simply Sport Foundation. Anything that I might need in terms of mental support, nutrition, fitness or whatever I get it all from them.

Once I’ve won the Asian title I will participate in the national championship to compete for a position in the national team. I will then participate in the Commonwealth Games and that will lead me to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

If you wish to support Divya in any of the areas to see her excel, then please reach out to Simply Sport https://www.simplysport.in/donate.

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