Mention Mehtab Singh or boxing in Haryana today, and most people think of Vijender Singh’s Beijing 2008 medal or Amit Panghal’s wins in the ring. Both of them come from Bhiwani, a town so famous for producing boxers that it’s known as India’s “Mini Cuba.”
Long before Haryana became a conveyor belt of world-class boxers, one man stepped into the ring and silently paved the road that everyone else would later walk on.
This is the story of Honorary Captain Mehtab Singh, from Ishwarwal village in Bhiwani., who made history as the very first boxer from Haryana to qualify for and compete in the Olympic Games.
An Era of ‘Pure Grit,’ Long Before ‘High-Tech Kits’
Today’s athletes train with cutting-edge sports science, custom nutrition plans, and foreign exposure trips. But back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the reality of Indian boxing was brutally raw. The sport was almost entirely sustained by the raw power of the Indian Army.
Mehtab Singh belonged to that legendary breed of soldier-athletes who balanced national defense with sporting passion. His contemporary and 1972 Munich Olympics teammate, M. Venu, recalls:
“Mehtab was a fighter defined by his brutal endurance. He didn’t rely on flashy footwork; he relied on a relentless engine. He would wear opponents down in the ring until they simply couldn’t breathe.”
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Why is Mehtab Singh important to Bhiwani boxing?
The world knows Bhiwani today because of the famous Bhiwani Boxing Club. But that fame came decades after Mehtab Singh had already put Bhiwani on the map.
At the 1972 Munich Olympics, he competed in the Light-Heavyweight category and became the first boxer from Haryana to fly the tricolour at the Games. For this, he was given the Arjuna Award in 1973, one of the country’s top sports honours.
What did Mehtab Singh do after retiring?
Mehtab Singh retired from the Indian Army in 1994. He didn’t chase the spotlight after that. Instead, he chose to pass on what he knew.
He became a coach at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Rai, Sonipat. He also worked as a national selector, spotting new talent from the grassroots. Many young boxers benefited from his guidance without ever knowing his own Olympic story.
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Why do we not know about Mehtab Singh today?
Mehtab Singh was a man of few words. He never sought attention and let his work speak for itself.
When he passed away in 2021 at the age of 72, his death barely made news. His close friend Bhim Singh, Haryana’s first Asian Games gold medallist in high jump, once said that Mehtab always stayed away from praise. He was happy just watching younger boxers do better than him.
Because of this quiet nature, most people believe Haryana’s boxing story started in the 2000s. In truth, the first real punch was thrown back in 1972, by Mehtab Singh.
Why This Matters
Medals don’t just appear out of nowhere in Haryana. Someone has to lay the first brick. Vijender Singh’s bronze medal in 2008 stands on a foundation built by boxers like Mehtab Singh decades earlier, training in freezing camps with almost nothing.
The next time you cheer for an Indian boxer under bright lights, remember the soldier from Bhiwani who first showed Haryana that the Olympic ring was within reach.
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