Pooja Rani Bohra hails from Nimriwali village of Haryana state's Bhiwani district, considered to be the sport's cradle in India.[4][5] It took her a year to find the courage to join the Hawa Singh Boxing Academy in her town, and kept it secret from her father, whom she knew would disapprove, when she did.[6] She would hide her injuries from the sport so that her father would not find out, staying over at friend's houses while her wounds subsided.[6]
Pooja had to fight against her father's dislike of the sport to be allowed to compete professionally for almost six months. In an interview, she mentions how her father would tell her that 'good children did not play boxing'.[7] When her father found out about her boxing ambitions, he banned her from attending classes. Her coach Sanjay Kumar Sheoran had to plead with her family to allow her to compete.[6] Even so, it took nearly six months to convince her parents to allow her to box professionally.[7]
Her first major win came in 2009 defeating a leading Haryana boxer Preeti Beniwal in the state championships, she became a youth state champion and followed it up with a silver in the Youth Nationals in the 60 kg category. Her family start supporting her and her father rewarded her with a bike.[8]
In Diwali 2017, she burnt her hand, which kept her out for six months. Eager to make up for lost time, she hurried into training and sustained a shoulder injury. Her confidence dented, Rani felt it was better to switch to the 81 kg category. In April 2019, she won the ASBC Asian Championship gold by defeating China's Wang Lina.[9][8]
Pooja also serves as an Income Tax inspector at the Haryana government.[7]
