Pooja Rani is an Indian middleweight boxer. She competes in the 75 Kg boxing category.She grew up in a middle-class family in Nimriwali, Bhiwani, Haryana.When she was in her teens, Pooja got attracted to boxing, However, she did not have the courage to pursue it as a career option.It took her around a year to get enrolled in the Hawa Singh Boxing Academy, Bhiwani. Pooja Rani during her practice session.Initially, Pooja hid her boxing ambition from her father as she feared getting scoldings from him.In her training days, she often used to stay away from her home at night to hide her injuries from her father. In an interview, while talking about it, Pooja said, If I got injured in training, I would not return home so that no one saw the cut or the swelling. My mother would lie to my father and tell him that Im staying over at a friends house to study, while I stayed over at my coachs house, icing the injury..During an interview, recalling how her father was against her decision of making boxing her career, Pooja said, My father was dead against my plans of making a career out of boxing. My father would say, Acche Bache Boxing Nahin Khelte (good children dont play boxing). Such was the situation that I feared my father would stop me from going to the boxing ring if he saw my injuries. So I would conceal my injuries from him..After a while, her father came to know about her involvement in boxing. He scolded her badly and banned her from attending boxing classes.When her coach Sanjay Kumar Sheoran noticed Pooja missing from the boxing academy, he visited her home and tried to convince his father to allow Pooja to pursue boxing as her career. However, Poojas father was still against her decision.It took her around 6 months to convince her father to take up boxing as a career option.