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If Akhil Kumar's first round display at the Olympics is anything to go by, he might just go on to become India's greatest boxer ever

I am not a boxing fan. I've always been ambivalent about the sport. I couldn't help but love its gladiatorial aspect, but watching two people beat each other to pulp? Really, can we be a little more barbaric please? That used to be my thinking, till yesterday. And then I had one of those mesmerising experiences that define your relationship with a particular sport - I saw Akhil Kumar in action at the Beijing Olympics.

Sports lovers might recognise this feeling - the sense of buoyant joy that bubbles up inside you when you catch a glimpse, for the first ever time, of a supremely gifted athlete who more or less cements your relationship with the sport.

The world might know all about him, but he is a discovery for you - no different from discovering your favourite author whom you cannot stop jabbering about to anyone who would listen. In tennis, it was the steely resolve of Ivan Lendl that hooked me to the sport. In cricket, it was the batting of Sunny Gavaskar. In soccer, it was Diego Maradona.

As for boxing, you grow up hearing a lot about legends such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Rocky Marciano, et al. But they were all before my time, and there were no Indian boxing icons. That is, after all, the power of national sporting icons - they convert people to a sport.

Last evening, walking past a TV screen, I heard loud cheering. I stopped to see what it was all about. It was, recognisably, a boxing match from the Olympics. An Indian, in blue shorts, against a Frenchman, in red. A first round match in the bantam weight (54 kg) category. The Indian was leading, not only in points, but also the Frenchman, Ali Hallab, around the ring.

For nearly six minutes I stood transfixed as Akhil pranced about prettily with his hands at his waist rather than in front of his face. Sometimes he would stand still, moving his head sideways like a Bharatanatyam dancer, mocking Hallab to get him, to hit a target that must seem tantalisingly within reach.

Hallab would swing, and miss. The miss would render him slightly off-balance - just the opening Akhil needed to launch his vicious right. This little routine worked beautifully for the 27-year-old captain of the Indian boxing team.

The Indian ducked, weaved, dodged, and teased. And the Frenchman followed him around like an enraged bulldog. Once Akhil gaily skipped ahead, turned around and taunted his opponent, as if to say, "come on, hit me if you can".

What really got to me was the way he had his guard down almost throughout the bout. Such an open, high-risk style, when it comes off, is heady to watch. And such sublime cockiness - is he an Indian, I heard someone ask - you can't help but be smitten by this young pugilist from Haryana's Bhiwani district, which has already earned a name for itself as India's 'Little Cuba'.

Ali Hallab, for the record, is no dud. He was a bronze-medallist at the 2005 World Boxing Championship. He is quick, and he packs a punch.

To his credit, he tried his best, and once he even managed to land a solid right on Akhil's face. But the problem for him was that Akhil was quicker, so much quicker that Hallab might as well have been running around the ring by himself punching the air.

For the most part, Hallab was about as successful as most of us are in swatting flies on a table. By the end of the final round, that is what the Frenchman was reduced to - swatting.

Everyone's heard the cliche about how Muhammad Ali would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee." We've heard about how he would taunt his opponents - both before and during the bout. And about how he could take 'chin', absorb blows to deliver them back with interest. On Tuesday, Akhil Kumar made these clichés come alive.

The final score was 12-5 in favour of Akhil, but it doesn't reflect the style, the majesty or the sheer disdain with which the Indian dismissed his opponent. It was a lively contest, and at the same time, a fabulous display of skill - the very best that any sport can offer.

What you love about this man is precisely what might seem out of place in a sport like cricket - his cockiness in the ring, which can infuriate the opponent as much as it can thrill the viewer. It also makes him appear vulnerable - all it would take is one solid punch and he would be finished.

Presumably, that is what goes through the minds of his adversaries as well, and so far it has worked for Akhil. His hit-me-if-you-can approach is just the attitude that can drive an opponent mad, and for a tactical fighter like him, that could prove a lethal advantage, as Muhamamd Ali, on whom Akhil has evidently modeled his own style, demonstrated time and again.

Incidentally, cynics who would dismiss Akhil's win as merely a first round victory would do well to remember that, unlike in other sports, there is no seeding in boxing. So if you are the boxing equivalent of Roger Federer, you could just as well get clobbered by Rafael Nadal in the opening round. In other words, just because it's the first round doesn't mean automatically that your opponent is the weakest you'll face.

Perhaps I am overreacting. It is possible that Akhil would get knocked out in the next round, where he will be meeting the 2007 world champion, Russia's Sergey Vodopyanov. But it is equally possible that he might send the world champ packing.

The 'signs' are all there: the hard lesson he learnt at the Athens Olympics four years ago, when he was battered in the first round, interestingly enough, by another Frenchman, Jerome Thomas, who won 37-16. Then came the wrist injury which threatened to end his career for good.

It took more than a year of treatment for him to get back to the ring. And his final battle outside the ring, so to speak, was with the mandarins of the Indian Olympic Association, who were not keen on letting his South African physio, Heath Mathews, accompany the Indian boxing contingent to Beijing. But Akhil held his ground and the IOA finally relented.

And 2008 began on just the right note for him, when he beat the Athens silver-medallist, Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand, in the third round of the Asian qualifying tournament in Bangkok. Not only did he win the gold here, he was rated the 'best boxer' of the event. Attitude, power, grit and technique - this gifted son of a Class III government employee has everything it takes to make a champion.

Irrespective of whether or not he wins a medal (if we extend the parallel with Muhammad Ali, he ought to win), those fortunate enough to watch Akhil in action can never forget this masterly performance by an Indian boxer at the Olympics. And irrespective of what you think of boxing as a sport, you don't want to miss a chance to watch him fight.

sampath@dnaindia.net