Shiva Thapa is probably the most high-profile boxer at the ongoing National Championships in the town of Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. The two-time Olympian, four-time Asian medallist and 2015 World Championship bronze medallist is easily the most popular. Thapa is accosted by selfie seekers right from the moment he steps out of the ring following his semi-final win in the 63kg category. The 25-year-old from Guwahati obliges them all: North Eastern teenagers studying at the Baddi University where the tournament is being held, locals and even a few fellow boxers.
While Thapa is the centre of attention in Baddi, he's trying to regain the national spotlight which he has ceded. The fact that the bantamweight (56kg) division in which he competed at the London and Rio Games has been chopped from the Olympic programme means Thapa has had to bump up to first the 60kg and then 63kg lightweight divisions. Thapa now has to box regularly against competitors while routinely giving up inches in reach and pounds in natural weight. That step was hard enough.
Now there's no certainty of even making it to international tournaments, ever since the emergence of the new kid on the block -- Manish Kaushik. The two have been battling for a place in the roster for the national team over the past couple of years and while Thapa has beaten Kaushik on occasion, it is the latter who has won where it mattered most. The 23-year-old beat Thapa to earn a spot on the squad for the Commonwealth Games where he won silver, then once again to make the World Championships team. A bronze there has placed Kaushik firmly on top of the totem pole.
It has also earned Kaushik the right to be India's representative in the first Olympic qualifier in February. Thapa has no option but to hope that Kaushik doesn't seal the Olympic quota at the first opportunity. "Since the first qualifier is not in my hand, I will be looking forward to the second one," he says. "If there is any other tournament, I will take part in that. More tournaments will only make me stronger. I just have to keep patient and work hard."
There are definite challenges he faces in his current weight category and Thapa knows that he has the option of dropping down to the 57kg weight division -- in which no Indian has yet earned the chance to be the country's representative in the Olympic qualifier. Yet Thapa is adamant that he will compete as a lightweight boxer. "You should never say never, but I have to feel the energy and strength in me [which I do in the 63kg division]," he says. "I felt good in 60kg and I also feel good in the 63kg. I went to Bangkok [for the Asian Championships, where he won bronze] and I did well there. I don't feel drained of energy like in the past. If I do go to the Olympics, I have to go in a division where I have the energy to do something."
"In the last couple of fights I'm going with a lot more punches to the body. These sort of punches drain the body and washes out the stamina and energy. There are big boxers but my strategy is to feint and then keep going for the body." Shiva Thapa
But Thapa knows that despite feeling as energised as he says he does, he is at a size disadvantage in the 63kg division. He can't fight in that category as he did in the lighter weights. So, even as he bides his time, Thapa has been tweaking his game. "I'm concentrating a lot more on body punches now," he says. "In the last couple of fights I'm going with a lot more punches to the body. These sort of punches drain the body and washes out the stamina and energy. There are big boxers but my strategy is to feint and then keep going for the body."
But Thapa isn't just looking to punch directly at the body. He's trying to swing his hooks and uppercuts in from an angle rather than straight on. "Right now I'm still making a mistake in that I am moving in a straight line when I am punching," he says. "But if I want to throw body punches, I have to throw it at an angle. If I do that I can get more power in my shot."
As Thapa explains, he is using the national championships as a test bed for the changes he is introducing in his fighting technique. "It's one thing to try this in sparring and another to do it in a competition," he says. "Everyone is trying their hardest to win here."
Thapa would like nothing more than a gold medal here -- the third of his career -- but he is still keeping an eye out for the Olympic qualifier and the preceding showdown with Kaushik. He is all praise for his rival and his achievement at last month's World Championships. "Manish is good," he says. "Winning a medal at the World Championships isn't easy. You have to stand out."
But he also believes he has what it takes to beat Kaushik and regain his place in the India team. "Technically he is quite good because he knows how to keep the distance," he says. "But if you know how to sort out a counter defensive puncher, he is in trouble. For me there is always a blueprint for boxers, and if someone can make it out, there is a chance."