Aozhouhuaren
Banned
I hope this isn't too 
. I was inspired by poster I saw in the Alternate World propaganda thread in AH writers section. It was of Nelson Mandela Vs Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) for the Heavyweight Championship. This is my first short attempt at a timeline. I intend to add more, of course I need some ideas and some help. This is what i've done so far, Its in a sort of biographic format. It is mainly about Mohandas Gandhi's boxing career and how he entered boxing. However I would like to branch out into other aspects of his life. I also made Gandhi live longer in this ATL, so I need ideas to explain that as well.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1971) - Boxer, Barrister, Political Firebrand, One-Time Leader of the Indian National Congress Movement, Leader of the United India Party, Interim Prime Minister of India.
In 1902, Gandhi was expelled from South Africa for his subversive political activities and his boxing, of which coloured people were banned from, by the Afrikaner Regime. While in exile in England, Gandhi had his barrister's license revoked by the National Board of Barristers based in London. Thus Gandhi relied on a boxing career for income to support his wife and children. A rather successful and gifted Bantamweight boxer, Gandhi won all 34 of his matches in England by knockout and was affectionately called "The Thunder from Porbandar" due to his powerful punches and speedy and graceful footwork. Also having a reputation as a gracious winner and sportsman, Gandhi was said to have personally paid for the medical bills of every one of his opponents, even though he drastically needed the prize money himself. Gandhi retired from boxing in 1904, when he knocked his opponent into a coma.
Although the opponent eventually recovered, Gandhi felt especially guilty and was quoted as saying "I entered this sport for an income and for fitness, never to transform into a violent barbarian and thus I will humbly retire from the sport of boxing." Gandhi previously had abhorred all kinds of violence, even under the heavy racist and violent atmosphere of South Africa while practicing as a barrister in Durban. His violent mugging by a young teenager, an almost fatally bashing by a policeman at an INC gathering and a near lynching by a white mob upon his return from a short trip to India; were just some of the traumatic events that were to push him towards boxing. In 1897, an Afrikaner, Pieter van Der Hass, expressed his sympathy and support for Gandhi’s cause and organisation. However Van De Hass remarked that Gandhi looked remarkably thin and weak and could not hold credibility as a convincing leader even with his strong political ideals.
Although Gandhi was taught through Hinduism to not indulge in his ego, he was admittedly hurt and asked to be introduced to strength training and boxing for self-defence and fitness. In his later years, Van Der Hass would remark “For a man that preached non-violence, Gandhi showed much skill and natural instinct in this violent art of boxing.” In 1899, while he was serving in the Ambulance corps during the Boer War, Gandhi noticed the mistreatment of fellow Indians serving in the Ambulance corps and organised a mass protest in Johannesburg. Gandhi was jailed for a year for his involvement in the protests; it was there he developed a further love for boxing and fitness training due to constant violent threats he received from inmates.
It was also during this time according to his memoirs, that Gandhi developed a sort of “dangerous aggression”, which he contributed to the years of suppressing his emotions towards the violent and hurtful acts that were perpetrated against him and his fellow Indians by westerners since he was very young. When he was released, he had found that his licence to practice law was revoked by the Afrikaner regime; he reluctantly started fighting to earn a living and to release this aggression that according him had been pent up for so long. Gandhi also continued to organise protests and other subversive acts against the government. In 1902, he was caught out by police and was threatened with a death warrant, he went into exile with his family to England. He returned in 1906 and continued to champion the INC cause in South Africa and was jailed 4 subsequent times until he left for India in 1915.
Left: He is shown here in a training session for a boxing match circa 1903 in a London gym
Right: Posing for a local Durban newspaper at the beginning of his boxing career.
Notice his change in build by the time he was in exile in England. In South Africa, he dedicated most of his time to political activities and therefore although he had an interest in boxing, he only spent at most 2-3 hours a week training. In England, with no convenient form of communication with his political colleagues and with his law licence revoked, he dedicated most of his time in the gym. It is noted that he had a reputation as one of the hardest working boxers in England at the time; Gandhi also kept to a strict vegetarian diet as well abstaining from liquor or smoking.
. I was inspired by poster I saw in the Alternate World propaganda thread in AH writers section. It was of Nelson Mandela Vs Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) for the Heavyweight Championship. This is my first short attempt at a timeline. I intend to add more, of course I need some ideas and some help. This is what i've done so far, Its in a sort of biographic format. It is mainly about Mohandas Gandhi's boxing career and how he entered boxing. However I would like to branch out into other aspects of his life. I also made Gandhi live longer in this ATL, so I need ideas to explain that as well.Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1971) - Boxer, Barrister, Political Firebrand, One-Time Leader of the Indian National Congress Movement, Leader of the United India Party, Interim Prime Minister of India.
In 1902, Gandhi was expelled from South Africa for his subversive political activities and his boxing, of which coloured people were banned from, by the Afrikaner Regime. While in exile in England, Gandhi had his barrister's license revoked by the National Board of Barristers based in London. Thus Gandhi relied on a boxing career for income to support his wife and children. A rather successful and gifted Bantamweight boxer, Gandhi won all 34 of his matches in England by knockout and was affectionately called "The Thunder from Porbandar" due to his powerful punches and speedy and graceful footwork. Also having a reputation as a gracious winner and sportsman, Gandhi was said to have personally paid for the medical bills of every one of his opponents, even though he drastically needed the prize money himself. Gandhi retired from boxing in 1904, when he knocked his opponent into a coma.
Although the opponent eventually recovered, Gandhi felt especially guilty and was quoted as saying "I entered this sport for an income and for fitness, never to transform into a violent barbarian and thus I will humbly retire from the sport of boxing." Gandhi previously had abhorred all kinds of violence, even under the heavy racist and violent atmosphere of South Africa while practicing as a barrister in Durban. His violent mugging by a young teenager, an almost fatally bashing by a policeman at an INC gathering and a near lynching by a white mob upon his return from a short trip to India; were just some of the traumatic events that were to push him towards boxing. In 1897, an Afrikaner, Pieter van Der Hass, expressed his sympathy and support for Gandhi’s cause and organisation. However Van De Hass remarked that Gandhi looked remarkably thin and weak and could not hold credibility as a convincing leader even with his strong political ideals.
Although Gandhi was taught through Hinduism to not indulge in his ego, he was admittedly hurt and asked to be introduced to strength training and boxing for self-defence and fitness. In his later years, Van Der Hass would remark “For a man that preached non-violence, Gandhi showed much skill and natural instinct in this violent art of boxing.” In 1899, while he was serving in the Ambulance corps during the Boer War, Gandhi noticed the mistreatment of fellow Indians serving in the Ambulance corps and organised a mass protest in Johannesburg. Gandhi was jailed for a year for his involvement in the protests; it was there he developed a further love for boxing and fitness training due to constant violent threats he received from inmates.
It was also during this time according to his memoirs, that Gandhi developed a sort of “dangerous aggression”, which he contributed to the years of suppressing his emotions towards the violent and hurtful acts that were perpetrated against him and his fellow Indians by westerners since he was very young. When he was released, he had found that his licence to practice law was revoked by the Afrikaner regime; he reluctantly started fighting to earn a living and to release this aggression that according him had been pent up for so long. Gandhi also continued to organise protests and other subversive acts against the government. In 1902, he was caught out by police and was threatened with a death warrant, he went into exile with his family to England. He returned in 1906 and continued to champion the INC cause in South Africa and was jailed 4 subsequent times until he left for India in 1915.
Left: He is shown here in a training session for a boxing match circa 1903 in a London gym
Right: Posing for a local Durban newspaper at the beginning of his boxing career.
Notice his change in build by the time he was in exile in England. In South Africa, he dedicated most of his time to political activities and therefore although he had an interest in boxing, he only spent at most 2-3 hours a week training. In England, with no convenient form of communication with his political colleagues and with his law licence revoked, he dedicated most of his time in the gym. It is noted that he had a reputation as one of the hardest working boxers in England at the time; Gandhi also kept to a strict vegetarian diet as well abstaining from liquor or smoking.