For decades, India-Pakistan sporting rivalries have largely been defined by cricket, where every encounter carries the weight of history, national pride and intense fan interest. Boxing has now added another contest to that sporting equation, although the latest drama has come before the opening bell. Indian boxer Manish Sharma slapped Pakistani fighter Rahim Pardesi during a pre-fight face-off in Dubai. A video of the encounter has gone viral on social media, and as expected, sparked a debate among users from both countries.
The incident occurred at a promotional event ahead of the scheduled bout on November 6, at Nikki Beach in Dubai. The security personnel surrounding the two participants rushed in to separate them to prevent the situation from escalating.
"Match started four days before the event," commented one user from India, commenting on the post of Sharma, who is popularly known has Half Engineer. "One medal for India," said another.
Pardesi reacted strongly to the video commenting, "Don't worry... I will give my reply on November 6th. Let's just hope you don't punch like you slap because you're a weak person inside out. Game over."
"The slap was funny," one of his fans commented. "The slap was personal," said another.
The boxer-influencer interacted with users saying the slap was "unexpected" but it "didn't hurt at all".
Who Is Manish Sharma?
Born on September 4, 1995 in Gurugram's Badshahpur, Sharma is a YouTuber and social media influencer and an amateur boxer, as per IMDb.
Sharma did his schooling from DVA School, Gurugram and completed his BTech from BFC ITM College in Delhi.
He launched his YouTube channel Half Engineer in 2013.
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