Former Commonwealth silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra turns professional

Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver-medallist and Arjuna awardee boxer Mandeep Jangra has decided to turn professional and will make his debut in Florida on March 19 against a yet-to-be-decided opponent.

The 27-year-old, who is also a silver medallist from the 2013 Asian Championships, will be competing in a super welterweight (69kg) bout at an event to be conducted in association with MTK Global Boxing Promotions.

"It is a move that I have been trying to make for the past one year. And finally, it has worked out. I will leave for the US tomorrow for some training before the bout on March 19," Jangra told PTI over phone.

"This is a one off bout for me and will be held in association with MTK Global. I will see how things go and hopefully, I will find a promoter to continue in the right direction," he said.

The South Asian Games gold-medallist was last seen in action in the Indian Boxing League's 2019 edition. However, he could not make the cut for the national camp that followed.

"It has been disheartening to not be there (in the national camp) but I won't be giving up on amateur boxing. The two categories in which I could have tried for Olympic qualification -- 69kg and 75kg -- are already sorted (Vikas Krishan and Ashish Kumar have booked the Tokyo berths)," he said.

"I couldn't have just sat around, and thankfully this worked out."

Mentored by 2010 CWG gold-medallist Akhil Kumar early in his career, Jangra has also been hard done by injuries. He underwent a surgery for a left hand injury in 2016, a setback that came while his career was on the upswing.

"It has never been very easy for me but who knows, with this plunge things might just finally start falling in place," said the 2015 Arjuna awardee.