Shiva Thapa (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian boxer from Guwahati, Assam, India. He is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, Shiva Thapa participated in the 2012 London Olympics, and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics. Shiva Thapa is ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men’s World Ranking. He is the third Indian to clinch Gold at the Asian Games.
Shiva Thapa is a strong contender for India for the 2016 Olympics.
Shiva Thapa is the younge of six children born to a Nepali origin father Padam Thapa, a karate instructor in Guwahati. His elder brother Gobind Thapa was an Assam state-level medal winning boxer; Mike Tyson’s bouts also inspired him to take the sport seriously. Shiva rose as early as 3:00 am in the mornings to balance his training and studies.Padam ensured that the monthly expenditure of ₹30,000 (US$450) was taken care of. Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes, decided to support the young boxer as a part of their Vision 2016 initiative. While signing Thapa, Viren Rasquinha, the chief operating officer of Olympic Gold Quest said:
Shiva is an enormous talent. He must be groomed well because he has the talent, the right attitude and the hunger to succeed. OGQ has very high hopes from Shiva and I am confident that he will become one of India’s top boxing stars in the near future.
