Legendary boxer Kaur Singh, who once fought Muhammad Ali, passes away

Veteran heavyweight boxer Kaur Singh, a Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee and a former Olympian, passed away in a private hospital at Haryana’s Kurukshetra Thursday morning. He was 74 and had reportedly been suffering from multiple health issues. Singh is survived two sons and a daughter.
A farmer from the Khanal Khurd village of Sangrur, Singh joined the Army in 1971 and fought the Indo-Pak war from the Barner sector of Rajasthan. He was awarded the Sena Medal and Vishisht Sena Medal for his contributions to the war. It was his stint in the Army that saw the beginning of Singh’s boxing journey. In 1979, he debuted at the senior national boxing championship where he won a gold and was unstoppable as he continued winning the gold for four consecutive years, till 1983. In 1980, he won the gold at the Asian boxing championships held in Mumbai.
In 1982, Singh became a national hero when he won the gold medal at the Asian Games in New Delhi. Following his achievements, he was presented with the Arjuna Award in 1982 and the Padma Shri in 1983. He even represented India in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles.
Interestingly, Singh once faced off with American legend Muhammad Ali in a four-round exhibition match held in New Delhi in 1980 – the only Indian boxer to face Ali.
In 1984, however, Singh retired from boxing and decided to return to his farming roots. After retiring from the Indian Army in 1994, Singh became a farmer. Farmers in his village recalled how his intervention helped canal water reach their village and how he helped the village get many other facilities.
In December 2020, Kaur Singh joined several others from Punjab in returning his Padma Shri and Arjuna Award to the Centre in solidarity with the farmers who were protesting the new agriculture laws.