It is India’s biggest boxing day at the Olympics so far. Twenty-seven year old Akhil Kumar is on the threshold of history - a win away from securing a medal at the Beijing Games.

Akhil Kumar would be taking on the World No. 17 Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova in the quarter finals of the bantam weight 54 Kg category today (August 18). A win in this bout would ensure the Indian a medal in these Games.

However, Akhil Kumar, standing on the threshold of history, does not want to step on a banana skin and miss out on his first Olympic medal.

For someone who has beaten the world champion in his previous round, today’s quarterfinal bout against the relatively unheralded Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova should ideally be a cakewalk.

Akhil, however, refuses to lower his guard and says underestimating opponents can often be fatal. “You never underestimate an opponent, much like you never get overawed by his reputation,” the boxer said.

“A number of great players have bitten the dust just because they took it for granted. The Russian world champion, Sergey Vodopyanov made the same mistake and underestimated me. See who reached the quarterfinals.

“It’s a cardinal sin in any other sport and I’m not going to step into the ring thinking he would serve it on a platter,” the Haryana boxer said.

Even before he boarded the flight to Beijing, Akhil has been insisting that he would not settle for anything less than gold. Asked if that was arrogance, Akhil said he is aware of the fine line that separates confidence from complacency.