Jadumani ready to pack a punch at Liverpool Worlds

The 50kg boxer is confident of making a mark at this year's Worlds in September

- Shantanu Srivastava

Jadumani Singh Mandengbam remembers the day he decidedly switched from football to boxing. Competing in a district-level tournament in Imphal in 2016, with former world champions Sarita Devi and MC Mary Kom watching, the then 14-year-old Neymar fan, weighing only 28kg, won the 36kg division, and as a reward received ₹500 each from Sarita and Mary.

Nine years on, while football continues to be his first love and Neymar his hero, Jadumani's boxing career is taking the shape he once dreamt of. The 2l-year-old from Maniputr’s Iroishemba vil-Jage will represent India in his first senior World Championships at Liverpool. It follows his senior national title won earlier this year and a bronze medal at the World Boxing Cup in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil where he beat England's 2024 World Boxing Cup Finals silver medallist Ellis Trowbridge in the quarterfinal.