Gurcharan Singh (boxer)

Gurcharan Singh (born 10 April 1977) is an Indian professional boxer born in Rurewal, Punjab, and currently settled in Philadelphia, US.[1]

For other uses, see Gurcharan Singh (disambiguation).

Gurcharan Singh Nagar
Statistics
Nickname(s)The Storm
Weight(s)Light heavyweight
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Nationality India
Born (1977-04-10) 10 April 1977
Rurawal Punjab, India
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights21
Wins20
Wins by KO11
Losses1
Draws0
No contests0

He competed in the light heavyweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[1] Although he lost in the first round at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Singh excelled his boxing performance at the Sydney games by defeating South Korea's Ki Soo-Choi, and South Africa's Danie Venter in the first two rounds. During the quarterfinal match, Singh made an early lead against Ukraine's Andriy Fedchuk; however, he failed to evade a punch in the last round until Fedchuk drew a sudden death point to end the match. As a result, the judges made a decision to break a deadlock and earned a score of 60–42 to the Ukrainian boxer; therefore, Singh did not advance into the semi-final match.[2]

Gurucharan Singh was last employed as a Naik Subedar in the 17 Sikh Battalion in the Indian Army.

Gurucharan Singh relocated to the US and settled in the boxing town of Philadelphia while pursuing his professional boxing career from 2001 to 2010.

Olympic results

1996 (as a light heavyweight boxer)

  • Lost to Enrique Flores (Puerto Rico) 7–15

2000 (as a light heavyweight boxer)

  • Defeated Ki Soo-Choi (South Korea) 11–9
  • Defeated Danie Venter (South Africa) – won after the referee stopped the fourth and final round in the boxing match
  • Lost to Andriy Fedchuk (Ukraine) 12–+12 (lost by a sudden death point)

Professional boxing

After his disappointing loss in the Olympics semifinal to Andriy Fedchuk, which Gurucharan still believes was an unfair result against him due to a sudden death point, 6 months after the Olympic loss while he was training in Czech at a boxing camp he left without informing anyone,[3] only after a while it was realized that he migrated to USA. As he left without informing anyone at workplace or in the Indian Boxing Federation his then employer Indian Army considered him AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) and faced and inquiry on arrival.[4]

Career
Singh vs. Ibragmiov (left)

In 2001 Gurucharan signed up for Pro Boxing in the United States. His first bout was with a lesser known Derrick Minter which he won in the first round on TKO. He was nicknamed Guru "The Storm" Nagra and had unbeatable run for record 20 straight fights with 11 KO/TKO's before he was stopped in the 10th round by Timur Ibragimov in 2010. Guru was also promoted as "The world's first professional Asian Heavyweight Boxer", In the later part of his professional boxing career Guru suffered various bodily injuries and subsequent surgeries that kept him away from the ring with only professional 4 bouts from 2004 to 2010[5] .

Return to India

With the AIBA easing its restrictions on professional boxers participating in Olympics or other international boxing events, in 2014 Guru patched up with the Indian Boxing Confederation and the Indian Army and returned to Indian 15 years after he had disappeared with a desire to represent India at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Professional boxing record
21 fights 20 wins 1 loss
By knockout 11 1
By decision 9 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
21 Loss 20–1 Timur Ibragimov TKO 10 (10), 1:45 24 Aug 2010 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, US
20 Win 20–0 Aleksandrs Selezens PTS 6 7 Mar 2009 New Bingley Hall, Birmingham, England
19 Win 19–0 Colin Kenna KO 4 (8) 27 Sep 2008 Bracknell Leisure Centre, Bracknell, England
18 Win 18–0 Mike Miller UD 6 19 Oct 2007 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
17 Win 17–0 Jermell Barnes MD 10 4 Jun 2004 Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
16 Win 16–0 Charles Brown UD 6 6 Mar 2004 The Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
15 Win 15–0 Cliff Nellon KO 3 (6), 2:59 9 Dec 2003 Pikesville Armory, Pikesville, Maryland, US
14 Win 14–0 Scott Jones UD 6 27 Jun 2003 Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
13 Win 13–0 John Battle UD 6 6 Jun 2003 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
12 Win 12–0 Alejandro Torres UD 4 18 Mar 2003 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
11 Win 11–0 Bryan Blakely TKO 1 (4) 31 Jan 2003 Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
10 Win 10–0 Francisco Pena TKO 2 (4) 13 Dec 2002 World Fitness Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
9 Win 9–0 Andrew Hutchinson UD 4 9 Aug 2002 Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
8 Win 8–0 Donald Colbert KO 2 (?) 22 Jun 2002 Sovereign Center, Reading, Pennsylvania, US
7 Win 7–0 Phil Ford TKO 1 (?), 2:35 26 Apr 2002 Holiday Inn, Rutland, Vermont, US
6 Win 6–0 Jesse Oltmanns TKO 1 (6) 16 Mar 2002 Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, US
5 Win 5–0 Thomas Talley TKO 1 (?) 18 Jan 2002 Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina, US
4 Win 4–0 Forrest McFarland TKO 2 (4) 19 Dec 2001 Essington, Pennsylvania, US
3 Win 3–0 Benny Garcia TKO 1 (4) 9 Nov 2001 The Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
2 Win 2–0 Jerry Arentzen PTS 4 28 Apr 2001 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, US
1 Win 1–0 Derrick Minter TKO 1 (?) 24 Mar 2001 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, US

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gurcharan Singh". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. "So near and yet…". Sportstar Hindu. 2 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. "Missing Olympian..." Rediff.com. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. "Punching Back: 'Missing' Boxer on Radar". Indian Express. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. "Still feel guilty about letting down Indian Army". Zee News. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
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