Shah Rukh Khan offers financial help to boxing legend Kaur Singh

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan offered financial help to Indian boxing legend Kaur Singh, who once famously sparred with Muhammad Ali. He's struggling to pay Rs. 2 lakh incurred for treating his cardiac condition.

According to reports, the 52-year-old actor gave Rs 5 lakh to ailing boxing legend from Punjab through his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on December 16.

The former national heavyweight champion was discharged from a private hospital in Mohali on Tuesday morning.

Kaur, 69, was the lone boxing gold medallist for India in the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. The heavyweight boxer had defeated Ismail Khalil of Iran in the inaugural Asiad in from home fans. India, however, won five more medals from the ring – two silver and three bronze.

But the legendary boxer, who lives in Khanal Khurd in Sangrur, fades away from public memory and was struggling to meet his medical expenses. According to reports, he spends Rs 8,000 per month on medicines alone.

"Sportspersons bring pride to a country and it is our duty to look after them as a society. After reading about Kaur Singh, we as a sporting unit, felt the need to stand by our fellow sportsman and urge everyone else to do the same in their own way. We wish Kaur Singh a speedy recovery and a healthy life.

"We, at Knight Riders, are extremely passionate about sports, which is not necessarily limited to cricket," SRK said in a statement to TOI.

Kaur has already received the Rs 2 lakh cheque from Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, besides the Rs 1 lakh from Boxing Federation of India (BFI).