‘Boxing is not fighting, it is an art of fighting’
Gunaratne unleashing a perfect left, rarely used by boxers nowadays
Former Sri Lanka boxer Saman Nihal Gunaratne deplored the standard of boxing at the Nationals even as Police pugilist Rukmal Prasanna emulated his feat of carrying away the Sir Henry William Manning Cup awarded to the most scientific boxer.
It may not necessarily herald another golden era for Police boxing coming as it did three decades after Gunaratne achieved the similar feat in 1989, 31 years after Olympian Dharmasiri Weerakoon won this coveted prize in 1958.
Police can boast of a rich boxing history with Barney Henricus, a police officer, having the singular distinction of winning the first gold medal for Ceylon as Sri Lanka was then known in 1938 at the Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games) in Sydney. From Sgt. Selladorai, who ruled the roost from 1928-32, Police produced a galaxy of boxing stars especially during the period 1948-60 such as Olympians Eddie Gray (London), Jayasuriya brothers – CP and HP (Melbourne) – Weerakoon and Sumith Liyanage (Rome).
Gunaratne, a gangly welter weight champion emerged as Sri Lanka’s next best hope in the late 1980s, though he failed to live up to his full potential in an era when boxing was struggling to stay on its feet.
“We didn’t have facilities which boxers have now. If we had those facilities, we would have won an Olympic medal,” declared Gunaratne in a no-holds barred interview with the Sunday Times.
“I didn’t have sparring partners when I was training for the SAF (South Asian) Games. I had to pull my punches in training because my opponents were falling down. There was less international exposure for us,” said the six-time national champion, who won a silver at the Islamabad Games in 1989.
“Boxing is not fighting, it is an art of fighting. They are not boxing now. Where is the left which is the main weapon, the lead punch in boxing,” questioned Gunaratne, who hung his head in shame at the standard of boxing at the National Championship.
Gunaratne claiming the Manning Cup
“There is no footwork in our boxing. Now they are just rushing. He should be fighting intelligently. A boxer is not a robot. They can duck, slip and counter. I don’t see combination punches. Now boxers are trained to hit just two or three punches. If they have power punches, they go for a knockout.”
“If I am allowed to fight at the Nationals now, I will win for sure,” quipped the 54-year-old looking supremely fit in all seriousness, his eyes glistening at the thought of making a comeback to the ring.
“You cannot win by being aggressive. Boxers should not go for knockouts. It comes automatically. I have lost going for a knockout because I was overconfident,” reiterated Gunaratne, who knocked out two opponents in the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990.
“Even the standard of school boxing is low from what I saw at the Stubbs Shield. Those days they used to box for two or three minutes without holding or rushing. Now after one or two punches they clinch,” said Gunaratne, a proud product of St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy and coach, late Derrick Gunasinghe.
“I feel there is no proper training programme for personal skills development in boxing. The way I trained also was wrong. We were not mentally conditioned to face challenges,” said Gunaratne, relating an incident where then Boxing Association President Dharmasiri Weerakoon referred him to a psychiatrist when he wanted to hang up his gloves at the peak of his career after his loss at the SAF Games.
“International sportsmen need counselling from psychologists. There is no one to discuss or to listen to our problems. We should train mentally as well,” said Gunaratne, who was hailed as one of the best captains by German coach Hans Peter Thomas when he led the team from 1989 to 1991.
Gunaratne failed to understand the mentality of present day boxing coaches.
“I feel some of the boxing trainers don’t have experience because they have not boxed at the highest level. That is why coaches produce boxers to win national titles but they can’t win at international level. They can produce national boxers but they don’t have experience to develop skills,” he said without pulling his punches.
“I want to develop Police boxing before I retire,” said Gunaratne, a Senior Superintendent of Police attached to the Special Task Force.