Knockout with a Difference

Siddharth Varma of Mumbai Fighters is lighting up the ring with his antics

Any boxer can bite his opponent’s ear. Can anyone pull off a dance step in the split second between two punches? Siddharth Varma can. The lean and restless 27-year-old from Pune has made an impression with his eccentric ways in the ongoing World Series Boxing, where he represents Mumbai Fighters. Varma, his head shaven but for a mat of hair on top, enters the ring slapping his head with both hands like Nana Patekar. He annoys his opponent with gestures and trash talk. And yes, if a punch finds its target, he celebrates with a quick jig.

“I dance if I connect. [It’s my way of saying] ‘Yeah, I’m the best’,” he says in Marathi after a bout against Dynamo Moscow at Mumbai’s Inorbit Mall. Varma, however, has lost the bout handily to his androgynous Russian opponent, Adlan Abdurashidov. Below Varma’s left eye is evidence of the punishment handed out to him, a cut that looks like a skinned plum. In three bouts for the Fighters yet, he has been the victor in one. But while he’s humble about his record, he’s not going to curb his chicanery or change his strategy, which is all-out attack.

“I don’t plan, I hit,” he says. “You can plan in amateur boxing, not in pro boxing. This format is mainly about hitting.” Indeed.

Reminded of his catch-me-if-you-can challenges to his opponent, Varma laughs. He has the air of a kid trying not to be naughty but not quite managing it. “It’s a habit I have from junior days. [I tell my opponent] ‘Attack me, hit me’.” A bit like a gentleman called Muhammad Ali. “I’m aware of [Ali’s reputation],” Varma says. “But I’m not copying him.” Varma denies it’s counter-productive to sledge the opponent. “He’s more likely to give me openings if I instigate him.”

Varma’s attacking style and exuberance won him some female fans in Russia, where Mumbai Fighters took on Dynamo Moscow. “As usual, I was aggressive. Showman. Hit, then dance. Hit, then dance. They liked it,” he says. But his coach didn’t. “I said to him, ‘What can I do if they are mobbing me?’”

He says he hasn’t kept in touch with his new friends. “I don’t email much and didn’t take their numbers.” What happened in Russia stayed in Russia. For now, it’s just boxing for Varma. And dancing.

About The Author

Akshay Sawai