Boxing is not a sport you normally associate with being gay. Sure there’s Oscar Dela Hoya, but try to name another gay boxer. Okay, fine, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
And Lennox Lewis.
And Fernando Vargas, Hector “Macho” Camacho, Juan Manuel Marquez . . . Oh, never mind.

Closeted boxers aside, it’s still not a sport you would associate with the gay world, and you certainly wouldn’t expert boxers to chase after a gay fan-base. But this year’s Olympics will feature a battle royale between two hunky pugilists who do just that. Though going into the ring, just for the record, Britain’s Anthony Ogogo is the current title holder. Not just for his name, but also for the fact he appeared nude in a photo spread for the gay magazine Attitude. And then there’s the homoerotic video that Ogogo did with Olympic Gymnast Louis Smith – you’ll want to hunt that one down on YouTube.

Ogogo is up against Indian boxer Vijender Singh for the hearts and minds of gay fans. Singh, an Olympic Bronze medalist has been dubbed “the Indian David Beckham” Not that he has appeared in any revealing underwear ads. Though Ogogo has. But both, when out of the ring, are models, reality TV stars, and both have endorsement deals that would make Michael Phelps jealous. The two will be meeting head to head at the London Games, and both intend on taking home the gold. Their rivalry is not just in the world of fashion and rainbows however, they’ve duked it out before. And it was a contentious finish.

Thanks to his raw sex appeal Singh became a pin-up in India after returning from Beijing with an Olympic bronze. Since then he has done modeling in India and appeared on that country’s version of American Idol. Hot, hunky, and muscular, the gay boys in India have been swooning over him for the last four years. And he enjoys their attention.

When asked how he feels about being a gay icon, Singh said, “It’s a part and parcel of fame and I am totally cool with it.” He added his wife, whom he married last May, has never had an issue with his friendships with gay men, or with the numerous rumors that he was fond of bi-sexual hook-ups before their marriage.

Pressed to address if he enjoys his gay icon status he said, “Why not? It’s nice to be desired and I also admire good looks in both men and women. So, there is nothing wrong in being wanted or idolized or fantasized about. I don’t see why there should be a negative connotation to someone liking you or desiring you.” And 2.5 million more gay boys in India fell in love.

Ogogo, on the other hand, put his money where his mouth was. Or at least his booty. He too works the runways when out of the ring, and appeared on one season of Britain’s Big Brother. And then there was the nude gay magazine spread which certainly explained why he’s known as “Beautiful Brown Suga” Ogogo. And not that it’s the least bit gay, but Ogogo recently took up ballet too. Or is that tutu?

But his latest dance craze is so that he can learn to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee in time for the Olympic Games. He qualified for his Olympic berth only recently at the European Championships, the final Olympic qualifying event, and this will be his fist Games. At the age of 16, having won a world junior title, Ogogo was on course to compete at the Beijing Games only to suffer a serious shoulder injury in 2007. “I was told I would be out for a year so was kicked off the Olympic boxing program and lost my funding,” Ogogo said. “They basically said I was useless to them injured. I was heart-broken. I remember watching James DeGale win gold in Beijing. I was sitting at home with my arm in a sling thinking where did it all go wrong. I just thought I need to make sure I am there in London.”

In late 2009 the new performance director for the GB team invited Ogogo back to have a trial with the squad. “He rang me up on my 21st birthday and told me he had been so impressed with me he wanted me to start back which I did in January 2010,” he said, adding, “ And I haven’t looked back.”

It’s been a rocky road for Ogogo, after a series of wins in 2010, at the 2011 European Championships he fell in his first bout. Four months later at the World Championships after taking out the third ranked boxer in the world he lost to a Brazilian southpaw and missed his chance of landing a spot at the Games at the first Olympic qualifier. Two weeks later he faced surgery on his shoulder – memories of his 2007 injury and the end to his Olympic dream loomed large. But Ogogo mended quickly, won his next few fights including his defeat of Vitalk Bandarenka of Belarus in the semi-finals at the 2012 European Championships – which garnered his spot at the Olympics – and joined the British Olympic Association’s Team GB last month.

The London Games will be Vijender Singh’s third Olympic appearance. The first time out at the Athens Games Singh lost his first bout and brought his Olympic experience to a quick close. Four years later in Beijing he stunned the world with his bronze medal performance. His was the first Olympic boxing medal won by the country; it changed the face of boxing in India. For the London Games India will field seven boxers, several – including Singh – are serious medal contenders.

The following year Singh won a bronze again at the World Championships, a gold at the Asian Games, and in the same year was named the top ranked middleweight by the International Boxing Association. In 2010, Singh along with five other fellow Indians won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Boxing Championships. But his career took a nose dive soon there after. His controversial loss to Ogogo seemed to shake the 26-year-old’s confidence resulting in Singh being knocked out in the first round of his bout at the 2011 World Championships, and like Ogogo he missed his first opportunity of landing an Olympic berth.

A gold medal win at the World Police Games in New York seemed to turn things around for Singh, and at the Asian Boxing Championships in Astana he finally landed his Olympic spot. Now preparing for his London battle Singh says he is taking a six month sabbatical from endorsement deals to concentrate on his sport. “I will not be going for any tournaments. I will stay in India and continue my training,” he says. “The training schedule will continue normally, and once my coach is back, we will discuss and see if we need to make a few changes.”

The son of a bus driver who worked overtime to pay for his coaching, Vijender’s boxing style – hooks and uppercuts – are often compared to the style used by Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky films, and Singh cites him as one his primary influences, appropriately so considering Singh’s movie-star like lifestyle. Regularly featured in India’s entertainment and gossip rags, Singh has appeared on game shows, an Indian dance reality show, and had been signed to appear on a boxing reality show until he was sued by his management company who’d been cut out of the deal.

Controversy seems to follow Singh, along with gay rumors. The police registered a case against him last year for the improper use of the national emblem (he’d had it printed on his wedding invitations) and more recently he threatened legal action against a model and reality show contestant Susheel Jangira for “breaking his trust” by releasing a music video he appeared in back when he used to do part-time modeling to fund his boxing career.

Singh says the recently released video angers him because it is sleazy and was released without his consent. Susheel says his embarrassment is due to an entirely different matter. Her publicist released a statement explaining the problem:

“Apparently the shoot required Susheel to do some intimate dance moves with the macho man. The unusually shy Vijender was uneasy with the ‘closeness’ with his co-star. His face was flushed with embarrassment and the crew members could notice his awkwardness in this unchartered territory.” It seems rumors surrounding Singh may have had some base, and a photo shoot he did for the New Delhi Times of the boxer peeking out of a closet may have been unintentionally ironic.

Ogogo, on the other hand, has far less concern with public intimacy. When he appeared on Big Brother he frequently did so nude. And the behind the scenes video of his layout for the magazine Attitude shows just how comfortable Ogogo is with strange men checking out his naked booty. And while Singh points to Rocky as an influence, Ogogo says his favorite film is Troy, but admits after seeing the film Scarface for the first time he spoke in a terrible Latino accent for about 3 days and called everybody a ‘cock-a-roach’.

Both boxers are looking forward to their appearance at the London Olympics. And both feel confident of their chance at winning a gold medal there. Says Singh, “ I will prepare well for the Games so I can give my best in every fight and win all of them. It will not be easy, because everyone will come prepared. But I am confident; I work hard, nothing can stop me from doing well in London.”

And Ogogo echoes that sentiment. “I feel happy, therefore confident. More confident than ever that I’ll get to and achieve big things at the Olympics Games,” he says. “ It’s been one hell of a journey for me the last 18 months, now it’s time to enjoy doing what I love doing . . . Boxing.”

The two middleweight hunks will meet in the ring once again in London. Singh has experience going for him, Ogogo has a 1” height advantage and youth on his side. The last time the two met, at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Ogogo prevailed. And boy was Singh pissed.

The Commonwealth Games were supposed to be India’s shining moment on the boxing stage led by their Olympic champion. Singh. His defeat at the hands of Ogogo in a 4-3 decision on points rocked the SE Asian nation and left Singh with only another bronze medal to add to his collection while his younger opponent walked away with the silver. The Indian team lodged a protest, which was rejected and Singh went into a huff, refusing to speak to reporters.

The controversy came from the referee’s calls in the third round of the bout. Singh was leading 3–0 on points going into the final round, but was twice given a two point penalty for holding, the second coming just 20 seconds before the end of the bout.

Singh lashed out saying that the penalties were unfair and harsh. “If the referee thought I was holding Ogogo then he should have penalized this guy as well. He was also holding me,” he said. “It’s a joke that somebody has won by scoring points just out of warnings.”

Vijender was not the only boxer to have lost due to warnings. Earlier in the day, two of his teammates too were penalized, for hitting their opponents below the waist. Ogogo celebrated his biggest career win in style. But he was upset over the way Vijender behaved in the ring saying Singh could have no complaints about the scoring, “because he was doing illegal things” like holding and keeping his head down.. “If you think the warnings were harsh then even I didn’t get points for some of the clear punches I landed. Even if he had not been warned, I think I would have won,” Ogogo said.

“I found his Achilles heel. I’ve beaten him. I can’t believe it. I’m very happy,” Ogogo said of the bad-tempered fight, adding that the win was massive. “Now I just want to win a gold medal in London.”

Brackets for the bouts which begin on July 28 have not yet been set but there is a good chance the two gay icons will be meeting inside of the ring once again at this year’s Olympics as Singh attempts to bring home a higher-valued metal medal and Ogogo tries to win his first. With Women’s Boxing debuting at the London Games, gay fans of the fish variety already plan on being glued to their television screens. As gay friendly as these two middleweights are, crowds of gay boys should be joining them.

[‘The XXX Games’ are a series of posts about hot Olympians, gay competitors – both present and past – and general articles about the 2012 London Olympics of interest to gay men. So, yeah, lots of hot male eye candy. Click the XXX Games graphic below for additional news, stories, and pictures.]