Former Commonwealth Games champion boxer Akhil Kumar believes a battle-hardened Amit Panghal, who persevered through the setback of being dropped from the national team before roaring back to qualify for the Olympics, will be among the most mentally strong Indian athletes competing in the Paris Games.
After a first-round exit from Tokyo Olympics, Panghal lost his spot in the team on the basis of Boxing Federation of India’s evaluation system, which was drafted by then high performance director Bernard Dunne.
“Amit is in a strong place now because he has made a comeback and seen the tough times in the past few years,” Akhil said.
Panghal, India’s lone men’s World Championships silver-medallist, secured an Olympic quota in the 51kg category. “When he was not in the team, he must have had sleepless nights, he trained hard. He must have felt things that he cannot put into words. He has walked out of all that stronger and should take it as a motivation,” Akhil added.
A former world No. 1, Panghal has medals in all the big-ticket events barring the Olympics
Akhil believes Panghal’s experience of beating some of the best in the world makes him a force to reckon with at the Paris Games.
“Amit has a medal in every tournament apart from the Olympics and I hope he gets that (missing medal). He has defeated so many talented
boxers over the years, so hopes and expectations from him
increase.”
Akhil, who won the gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, feels all the boxers in India’s six-member Paris squad are capable of winning medals.
The trio of Nishant Dev, Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain head to the Games after clinching World Championship medals in 2023, while Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar snared bronze medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, respectively.
“The boxers have done well recently. Most of them have medals in big tournaments. Nishant is very talented, I have seen his bouts, he plays really well. “Lovlina has a strong contender. She has a chance to create history by winning a second Olympic medal in boxing, no Indian has done it,” Akhil said.
