Neeraj Goyat: From Bollywood to Boxing & Much More…

Exclusive Interview by Joshua “City Brewer

“I’m the first Indian boxing professional who has made the WBC rankings and I want to make history in the world. Right now, this is just history in India only, but I want to make history in the world.”—Neeraj Goyat

Typically, when one thinks of India, they don’t think about boxing. Neeraj Goyat, 9-2-2, 2 KO’s, is trying to change that narrative. While India isn’t a hotbed for boxing, like anything in life, when an opportunity presents itself, one must take it. I must honestly say; a simple interview can’t really bring to account what Goyat may have gone through in life to get to the point where he is at now. Hailing from Begampur, India, boxing was probably a dream at best. Yet, he’s managed to defy the odds and get to levels no other boxer in India has. This could be from a number of things ranging from perfect timing to absolute skill. Dare I say it was fate.

What is to happen will happen. Goyat has his sights set on more than just making a name in his home country. He intends to leave a mark on this world as a whole. Having gone through rocky roads early on, the stars seem to now be aligning. He’s 26 years old an essentially preparing to enter his prime years. With more than himself in mind as he seeks to represent an entire country, his time may very well be now. I had the opportunity to speak with Goyat on boxing in India, the Ultimate Beastmaster, and life in Bollywood.

JB: How did you get your start in boxing and what is the boxing scene like in India?

When I was 14 years old I was interested in boxing. At that time, I was selected for the Army Sports Institute in Pune, Maharashtra, India. I was selected for training and started my good training there. This was 2006. In 2008, I won a Gold Medal in the Youth National Championship. I also won most promising boxer. It was at that time that I decided that boxing would me my career and boxing would be good for me. After that national championship I was selected for the Commonwealth Games. After that, I fought in the Youth World Championship in Mexico.

I was doing very good there and I lost to a fighter from Russia by two points. I continued my amateur boxing and in 2012, before the London Olympics, I was in the Olympics Qualifier and lost to China in the individual scoring. At that time I was thinking of turning professional and I checked on the internet, google, ect., for a promoter. I contacted a promoter in China because they were an Asian country and I was gaining contacts there. Sometimes, when boxing, they were cheating. I would win my fight and they’d score it a draw. They cheated me and gave me a loss as well. So, that’s why I started out with two losses and two draws. My first ever fight, my debut fight, I was not even in China. They put it on my record as a loss. I was getting a visa. I ended up getting my visa late but they put it as a loss. After that I would continue, I would talk to the promoters and tell them please don’t cheat me because this is my career, and the whole thing. Still, I continued and became the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia champion and I will continue this.

JB: I saw that you had those two losses and a draw and was going to ask you about that because I also recognized that you’re currently on a nine fight winning streak dating back to 2013. As far as right now, do you feel as though you have the right team in place as you move forward with your career.

Yes. So, still I’m doing my good training. I’m finding a good promoter in India because in India, the focus in boxing is not good. Indian promoters don’t have much knowledge of professional boxing. Still, I am finding a training for me because this is my age to do something in boxing and make a name fighting. So, I’m still fighting.

JB: Any current fighters you really enjoy seeing or any boxing influences?

Yes. I like Vasyl Lomachenko, the Ukrainian boxer. I like his moves. In India there are a lot of young boxers, but they’re all amatuer boxers. In India you have many boxers that don’t turn professional.

JB: Moving ahead, I see that you’re ranked in the WBC Top 40 for the welterweight division. I believe I read that you’re ranked 36 and are actually the first Indian boxer to ever be ranked in the WBC, maybe even any sanctioning body period. How does that feel to have been the first to accomplish this for your country?

This feels very good because I’m the first Indian boxing professional who has made the WBC rankings and I want to make history in the world. Right now, this is just history in India only, but I want to make history in the world. I’m the first Indian to make something different in an Asian country. I don’t know if it will happen or not but that is my dream.

JB: Do you feel like you want to make a push for the title at welterweight? Is that something you aim to do?

Yes. I feel can make super lightweight also and my weight doesn’t go up that high. If I think that super lightweight is good is for me I will lose the weight. My coaches will also decide if that weight is good for me and if so, then I will continue at that weight.

JB: I saw you competing on this Netflix show called Ultimate Beastmaster where you go through this tough, grueling obstacle course forcing you to pretty much use every muscle in your body. How did you get joined up with that and what was the experience like?

In the Ultimate Beastmaster I was there with all outstanding sportsmen, all were outstanding. They had good jumps and flexibility, they have everything. I was there and there was one other boxer from Spain. I believe she was from spain. She has really good boxing skills. These were different types of unique sports persons. When I first saw that obstacle I was thinking what the fuck, I can’t do this! I saw that girls and guys were doing it and when my time came, I saw this girl go before me. Maybe she was from the United States, I forgot her name.

She did it and I got more confident. I did it, but I didn’t make it through the full course. My jumping was good. My first three to four jumps were good and then after that, I jumped to catch one rope. The rope was an iron rope (chain). I’d never tried to catch that type of rope. When I jumped to try and catch it the rope was hurting my fingers and I slid down into the water.

Afterwards, when I came out from the water, I was thinking wow, I did this. That was an awesome thing for me and an awesome thing for my country. I had never done jumps like that before. The crew, the Ultimate Beastmaster crew was good. All crew members were friendly with me. It was very good experience.

JB: I also read that you made your ‘Bollywood’ debut in a movie called “Mukkabaaz,”which translates to “The Brawler in English. How was that? I’m going to check it out.

That movie was a very awesome movie. I still am a part of “Mukkabaaz.” I feel very confident because this is a real boxing movie. The Director, Anurag Kastyap, is very big in India, and he did a real, Indian boxing movie. The other Indian boxer did in amateur boxing, that’s how he got the job. So, that is a real movie. The actor, the lead actor is Vineet Kumar Singh. Vineet Kumar Singh is a very good actor. He did boxing training for like two years and now he’s a real boxer.

He can beat any national boxer. Vineet is a very good friend of mine, he’s like my big brother. He called me, he got my number but I don’t know from where, but he called me. He said “Neeraj, I listen. I’ve heard about you from boxers and I was wondering if you can work with me on my movie?”

I said ok, sure, I will do it. I provided in this movie my boxing, my technical points, my boxing points. In this movie I did real boxing. No choreographing. My boxing along with Vineet as we’re boxing in the ring, that’s real boxing, no choreographing. I told him to throw punches and I will defend them. He’d throw punches and sometimes I would counter him. That fight is an awesome fight for this movie. All Indian media wrote about this fight as though they were sitting watching real boxing in a movie. That was very good for me.

JB: Do you have any other projects that you’re working on that are coming soon?

I have many plans. Right now I have a plan for my new boxing gym. My new boxing club. That is awesome, that is the one very big cause. It will include boxing, wrestling, weight lifting, and fencing. It’ll be three to four gyms that they’ll build. In my city, there are very low amounts of sports persons.

In my city they’ve already completed it, so now I’m working to get sponsors for this club so that I can get equipment. I’m still waiting for any companies to come there and sponsor it. That’s my new project along with talking to promoters. Maybe a new thing will happen and I’ll sign with a new promoter out of India.

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