KOZHIKODE: Having a great coach is among the most important factors in improving your boxing ability. Is it just knowledge and experience? There is more to a great boxing trainer than just knowing everything. The best example here is 70-year-old Raghavan Puthalath, Raghavettan to his disciples, who dedicated his entire life to training youngsters into state and national champions.
Till date, more than 2,000 students have learned the nuances of boxing and yoga from Raghavan Master since he started imparting free training to passionate boxers. The tough and rough trainer, who does not care about fighters' excuses, has never been in the ring for any state or national championships but to his credit have hundreds of students who have competed in both.
“I have never stayed away. I train my students in the small workshop shed that I own at Pooladikunnu near Kozhikode. People call me a tough master but I am ok with it because at the end of the day I just wanted a good fighter, let it be a girl or a boy," he said. The recent National Games finalist, Ramesh Babu, is one of his disciples and has been undergoing training under him for more than two decades.
"This is a coach who tells you all the rules, decides what time you go running every day, everything you have to eat and he watches every minute of your workout," says Babu. "He weighs the opponent and gives his fighter a set of plans. He works the fighter heavily on the mitts and provides endless technical adjustments. Everything goes by the book."
Raghavan, who still stays single in life, has considered boxing and yoga as his better half. He was the first boxing coach in the state who trained women boxers for state championship which gradually made way for more and more women boxers from Kerala.
