Rohit Mahajan

On May 31 this year, Amit Panghal’s coaches thought he had won the 52kg final in the Asian Championships against Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. Panghal agreed.

Scoring patterns in amateur boxing are notoriously difficult to figure out — on top of that, one tends to notice only the punches thrown by a boxer from one’s own country. Yet, even unbiased observers thought that Panghal had beaten Zoirov. Three of the five judges had given him the last two rounds — yet he lost the bout in a 3-2 split decision.

Now, Zoirov is a top-class boxer — winner of gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, world champion in 2019. Zoirov, a southpaw like Panghal, has been a nemesis of the Indian, winning all three fights they’ve had, including the World Championships title bout in 2019.

In April, Panghal had been beaten 5-0 by Zoirov at the Governor's Cup in St. Petersburg, but the bout had not been as one-sided as the scoreline suggested. But the display in May-end, when he was probably unlucky to be declared the loser, showed that the Rohtak lad is catching up with the Uzbek.

Panghal, who had been a bit laidback in training and lacking in initiative in the ring in the past, was a revelation in May. His greater aggression against Zoirov showed that the work his coaches have put into his training is bearing fruit. He moved in more often, ducked and weaved against Zoirov’s punches and landed with both right and left on the Uzbek’s face and body. When the referee declared Zoirov the winner, Boxing India’s chief coach AC Kutappa and High Performance director Santiago Nieva were upset, convinced that their man had won.

Earlier, Panghal was mainly a counterpuncher, beginning cautiously. That worked against him because judges tend to reward a boxer showing greater activity and aggression; if a boxer takes the first round, judges are likely to award the next round to him/her in case it’s a close round. To overcome Zoirov, Panghal needed to start attacking right from the start — this he did in the two bouts they fought this year.

Panghal says he used to observe the opponents in the first round, but the coaches have been drumming into his mind to start positively from the first round. He’s made great progress — always a technically skilful pugilist, he’s added a strong element of daring in his style. He comes in more often, exposing himself to possible blows, but this also gives him greater chances of landing blows of his own. Greater activity meant that he had to become stronger physically and add to his endurance. He has worked hard to achieve those two objectives.

Panghal knows that the change has worked — he is certain that he was the real winner in his last fight against Zoirov. “I have made quite a lot of progress in how to tackle him, and in Tokyo I would put in greater effort,” says the 26-year-old Armyman.

Good old Mary

India’s second-best boxing hope, even in her 39th year, is Mary Kom, winner of a bronze at London 2012. The six-time world champion could not qualify for her second Olympics five years ago, but the mother of three has got a new spring in her step since that disappointment. Mary won her sixth world title in 2018, and added a silver and a bronze at the next two editions of the premier global meet.

How would she do in Tokyo? Well, the results since the Covid-induced break have been less than breathtaking — she lost in the semifinals at the Boxam meet to settle for a bronze in March. In the Asian Championships in Dubai, she ended up with a silver. She is not seeded at Tokyo, but is ranked No. 7 in the world. She could encounter a relatively strong opponent from her second round onward.

Mary is not as quick as she used to be, but she still has an appetite for a fight. As she’s aged and lost speed, she’d adapted, giving up all-out aggression and focusing on technique — her aim is no more to rain punches that may or may not land, but to throw accurate punches that actually land and get her points. She’s become an crafty counterpuncher.

Mary wants gold, but to merely climb on the podium, she needs to be at an extraordinary level. For her height, she’s a naturally 48kg boxer but must fight in the 51kg class because that’s the lightest weight category in the Olympics — which means that, like in London, she’d be up against taller opponents. They’d be younger, faster and stronger, too. Yet, with all her experience, her tricks and moves, Mary Kom can’t be ruled out.

Other hopefuls who can surprise

Punjab’s Simranjit Kaur is the only woman boxer from India to get a seeding at the Olympics — she’s seeded No. 4, which means that she’d meet higher-ranked boxers not before the semifinals. The 2018 World Championships bronze medallist is a strong, powerful puncher and will be the first Punjab woman boxer to get to the Olympics. She would want to make it memorable by climbing the podium.

Vikas Krishan Yadav (R), 29, had won gold at the 2010 Youth World Boxing Championships and bronze at the senior World Championships in 2011, aged only 19 — achievements that could have been a precursor to much bigger things. He has done well, but not as well as his achievements as a teenager portended — a lot of blame for that could be laid with the officialdom, which got into a fight to control boxing in India, which led to the Indian federation getting suspended in 2012.

Yadav now goes into his third Olympics, chasing the elusive medal. He’s an intelligent fighter who has matured with age. He’s picked up tricks by fighting on the US professional circuit. This is likely the last Olympics of the man who was a Teen Phenom. Can he make it count?

Manish Kaushik of Bhiwani eclipsed Shiva Thapa four years ago at the national level. In 2019, surprisingly, he won bronze at the 2019 World Championships. Kaushik, 25, has hoped of an Olympics medal since 2008, when he was inspired by Vijender Singh’s bronze at the Beijing Olympics. Assam girl Lovlina Borgohain, 23, is a two-time World Championships bronze medallist. Coaches have been raving about the progress she’s made in recent years.

Bhiwani’s Pooja Rani, this year’s Asian Championships gold winner, will make her Olympics debut in Tokyo.