Amit Panghal's boxing career, achievements and plans for Tokyo 2020

Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal created history by winning a silver medal after going down fighting 0-5 to the reigning Olympic gold medallist Uzbekistan's Shakhobidin Zoirov at the World Boxing Championships in Russia. This silver medal was also Panghal’s maiden medal from this prestigious tournament. Despite the loss, Panghal had already created history as the first Indian male boxer to reach the final of the World Championships. Indian Boxers like Vijender Singh, Vikas Krishan, Shiva Thapa, and Gaurav Bidhuri have competed in the mega event, but they were not able to secure a medal better than bronze.

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Boxing Career

In his debut, Panghal won gold at the National Boxing Championships in 2017. He then went on to win a bronze in the light flyweight category of the 2017 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships and qualified for the 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships, where he was defeated by Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov in the quarter-finals. 2018 was an important year for Panghal. In February, he won a gold medal at the Strandzha Cup and then while competing in the light flyweight category at the Commonwealth Games, he won the silver medal. In the start of 2019, Panghal won gold at the Asian Boxing Championships 2019 where he defeated Korean boxer Kim In-kyu.

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Recent news

Panghal recently said in an interview that he expects a tough challenge from the Asian boxers at the qualifiers of Tokyo Olympics, 2020. While talking to a news agency, he revealed that, in the lower weight category, the level of competition at Asian qualifiers is same as World Championships. "Most of the Asian boxers win a medal at the Olympics or World Championships. So it will be tough. Of course, the World qualifiers will be tougher as US and European boxers will also participate," he told PTI.

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