Jumping on cotton-filled mattresses, launching pillows over perimeter walls, and whaling away at a makeshift punching bag stuffed with mountain soil—this was the unconventional training ground of Kapil Pokhariya. While most children were occupied with standard playground games, the young boy from the small village of Chakarpur in Khatima, Uttarakhand, was busy choreographing his own future in the squared circle.
Little did he know that his childhood obsession with WWE superstar Roman Reigns—an icon whose every punch he meticulously mimicked—would eventually pave the path to an international podium. Today, the Indian Army Havaldar stands tall as an Asian Games medallist, having clinched a prestigious bronze in the men’s 90kg boxing event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
“I never knew that copying Roman Reigns and practising those punches would bring me this far,” Kapil told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview. “I used to save recordings of his videos, and I still have them. Honestly, I started learning how to throw punches by copying Roman Reigns. My favourite shows were WrestleMania and Money in the Bank.”
From Khatima to the Asian Games Podium
Kapil’s rise is as improbable as his early training methods. Hailing from a region far removed from the primary boxing hubs of India, he didn’t follow the conventional route of an elite academy trainee. His father, Narendra Singh Pokhariya, a veteran of the Indian Army, initially harbored dreams of his son pursuing a life as a commissioned officer, viewing boxing as little more than a destructive hobby that led to damaged household furniture.
The turning point came when Narendra observed his son’s transformation. No longer just a playful child copying wrestlers, Kapil began returning from school to dedicate hours to a crude, sand-filled sack, striking it with a level of ferocity and discipline that hinted at untapped potential. Recognizing the flicker of genuine ambition, his father relented, eventually enrolling him in a local training center under the tutelage of coach Pooran Bohra.
“Poorans sir trained a small group of boys for just a few hours on selected days,” Kapil recalled. “But I was hungry to learn. I listened to him carefully and repeated every single movement when I returned home.”
The Crucible of Defeat
The transition from a village training ground to competitive boxing was not without its bumps. Kapil’s debut at a state-level tournament in 2015 ended in a demoralizing first-round exit. The sheer scale of the event, the roaring crowd, and the technical superiority of his opponent served as a reality check. However, the experience ignited a fire rather than dousing it.
“I was really disappointed. It was the first bout of my life, but that defeat taught me more than a win ever could,” he noted.
The subsequent years proved to be a masterclass in resilience. Kapil returned to the domestic circuit with a refined approach, eventually dominating the national stage. His success brought the stability of a job in the Indian Army, where he enlisted in April 2017. As a Havaldar, he found the structural support and institutional backing to polish his raw athleticism into a world-class skill set. The Army provided the platform for his ascent, and his father’s pride became his greatest motivation.
“When I won a national medal, my father hugged me—that was when I realized I had achieved something big,” Kapil shared. Following his bronze-medal performance in Aichi-Nagoya, he is now set for a promotion to Naib Subedar, leading to a playful exchange with his father: “Papa said, ‘Ab tu mera senior ho gaya hai’ (Now you have become my senior).”
The ‘Andre Russell’ of the Pitch
Before he was feared in the boxing ring, Kapil was a local legend on the cricket pitch. Gifted with a powerful, muscular frame, he dominated inter-village cricket in Uttarakhand. His propensity for smashing gargantuan sixes earned him a moniker that stayed with him long after he traded his bat for boxing gloves: “Khatima ka Russell.”
“I loved Andre Russell and Hardik Pandya. People called me ‘Russell’ because of my power,” he laughed, recalling his days as a local cricket star. That same explosive power, once used to clear village boundaries, has since been harnessed to devastating effect against his boxing opponents.
The Road Ahead: Dreaming of LA 2028
For Kapil, the Asian Games bronze is merely the prologue to a larger narrative. The 2026 success has acted as a catalyst, securing his entry into the 2027 World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, which serves as the premier qualifier for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The discipline instilled by his military background, combined with the relentless spirit he once directed toward emulating Roman Reigns, remains his guiding force. As he prepares for the rigors of the World Championships this coming April, his eyes are fixed firmly on the Olympic horizon.
“Rukna nahi hai ab, bas aage dekhna hai,” he says—there is no stopping now, only looking ahead. For the boy who once punched mountain soil in a village in Khatima, the journey to Los Angeles feels like the natural next act in a life defined by grit and the audacity to dream big.
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