WP Mendis
Royal College boasts of a rich tradition in boxing dating back to the evolution of the sport in schools with the introduction of the Stubbs Shield which has been the coveted prize of pugilists since 1913.
This is best illustrated by the fact that Royal has participated in every Stubbs Shield meet since its inception in 1914, except in the years 1999 and 2010.
Royal’s boxing struck a purple patch during the 1940s (1944-47) and the 1980s (1984-87), to set up a series record of four consecutive wins and the record was subsequently broken by Vidyartha College, Kandy, who won it for seven consecutive years (1991-97).
But Royal still holds the record for the most number of wins in the Stubbs Shield series with 19 and the last triumph after three decades in 2017.
The most number of individual wins recorded in the Stubbs Shield series were by AB Henricus (7), FIT Labrooy(6), H. Bandara (6), SB Samaratunge (5), H. Ousman (5) and MMA Nisthar (5).
As the school celebrates the 110th anniversary of boxing, one of the Royalists who kept the torch alive at the national level was WP Mendis, a product of the golden 80s decade.
He is the last Royalist to become national champion not once but four times after MA Jayalath who represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Games in New Delhi, India in 1982.
A four-time Stubbs Shield winner, southpaw Pujitha Mendis was one of the most outstanding schoolboy pugilists of his generation having begun his ring debut in 1984 by winning the LV Jayaweera meet for Freshers, TB Jayah meet for Novices and Stubbs Shield.
Junior national champion and Best Boxer in 1987, he achieved the distinction of winning the ABA Novices being adjudged Best Boxer and Intermediate meets as a schoolboy showing early promise as a future national prospect. He won the EI Gray Challenge awarded to the most scientific boxer at the Royal College inter-house meet twice.
He captured his maiden national title in 1990 for Police winning the Layton Cup and Clifford Cup three times. Among his memorable performances was winning against Army and Sri Lanka boxing great RK Sumith Prasanna. He was adjudged Best Boxer at the Layton Cup in 1990.
His international debut came at a youth tournament in Sweden in 1990 winning a silver medal while at senior level he claimed a bronze medal at the prestigious Adajanya international meet in India in 1999 before hanging up his gloves.
However, he continued to serve boxing as coach of Royal College and Police, becoming the first Sri Lankan to qualify as a 3-star AIBA coach in 2012. He was coach of the Sri Lanka team at the Senior World Championships and Youth World Championship in 2012, in addition to the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
The 53-year-old Chief Inspector of Police continues to serve Sri Lanka, having also qualified as a national referee in 2009.
A proud product of Danton Obeyesekere, the first Royalist to win the Best Boxer’s Cup at the Stubbs Shield in 1925 and who later became the first Asian to captain Cambridge University in any sport, in 1928, Mendis continues a legacy of being one of the finest Royalists and Police officers to adorn the sport of boxing in Sri Lanka.
Royal emerged champions at the Stubbs Shield meet for the first time in 1935 during the centenary year of the College, two years after Danton Obeyesekere had begun coaching the Royal team.
Royal also won the Phelps Memorial Trophy at the ABA Junior Championships on four occasions, the T. B. Jayah Memorial Challenge Cup for Novices on six occasions and the LV Jayaweera Challenge Cup for Freshers, once.
DV Boderagama has been the only Royalist to win a National title as a schoolboy, when he won the Fly weight in 1946, at the age of 17.
