NEW DELHI: "Gold hi jeetna tha desh ke liye, bhaisaab (Had to win gold for my country)," boxer Amit Panghal told Timesofindia.com in an exclusive interview from Bangkok after winning a gold medal at the Asian Boxing Championships.
Panghal, who had received the Asian Games gold medal final year, defeated Korea's Kim Inkyu by means of unanimous choice to claim the top honours.
Incredibly, Panghal punched his technique to gold in spite of being down with prime fever. A sleepless evening a day earlier than his final bout is something Amit will perhaps by no means overlook.
"I was down with fever. I was struggling to sleep. I want to thank my team's physio Rohit Kashyap sir who gave me motivation and kept checking on me the entire night. He was coming into my room every two hours and asking about my condition. He said 'you are a champion boxer, you will win the gold for sure'. That's what pumped me up for the final bout," Panghal stated.
"I was down but didn't give up. I had decided I will give my life for the gold," Panghal, who had come into the tournament on the back of a gold at the Strandja Memorial Tournament in February told TimesofIndia.com.
"I can't express my feeling. I am very happy that I have made my country proud. I will continue to do this in the future as well," Panghal stated.
The 2017 version of the Asian Championships saw Panghal winning the bronze medal (in 49kg) however this time the 23-year-old, who used to be collaborating in his maiden global pageant since transferring up to the 52kg category from 49kg previous this year, claimed the top prize in style.
Panghal had to trade his weight category to 52kg since the 49kg category has been dropped from the Olympic programme for the Tokyo 2020 version.
"It is not easy to change the weight category. It requires a lot of hard work. We need to put in extra training, plan and make strategies for the new category," Panghal stated.
"52 kg is more challenging than 49 kg. I am short in height. Indian boxers are not that tall. In 52kg category, if you look at the other boxers (from other countries), they are tall. So I had to do a lot of weight training and work on my reach," Panghal defined.
"I discussed this with senior boxers who have fought in the 52kg category and watched videos of world-class boxers after they shifted to new weight categories," he stated.
Panghal has his eyes set now on the World Boxing Championships, to be held in September this year.
"The World Championship will be the quota place tournament for the Indian boxers. I am promising I will win the gold there as well. I want to win the first quota place in 52kg for my country," a assured Panghal told TimesofIndia.com.
India have received two medals in boxing in the Olympics to this point. Vijender Singh received bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, whilst MC Mary Kom bagged a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Panghal is assured that he can win a gold medal for India in Tokyo.
"We have two Olympic medals in boxing. Our stars Vijender bhai and Mary Kom have made the country proud. I want to win the gold medal for India in Tokyo. This is my ultimate dream," Panghal signed off.
Panghal, who had received the Asian Games gold medal final year, defeated Korea's Kim Inkyu by means of unanimous choice to claim the top honours.
Incredibly, Panghal punched his technique to gold in spite of being down with prime fever. A sleepless evening a day earlier than his final bout is something Amit will perhaps by no means overlook.
"I was down with fever. I was struggling to sleep. I want to thank my team's physio Rohit Kashyap sir who gave me motivation and kept checking on me the entire night. He was coming into my room every two hours and asking about my condition. He said 'you are a champion boxer, you will win the gold for sure'. That's what pumped me up for the final bout," Panghal stated.
"I was down but didn't give up. I had decided I will give my life for the gold," Panghal, who had come into the tournament on the back of a gold at the Strandja Memorial Tournament in February told TimesofIndia.com.
"I can't express my feeling. I am very happy that I have made my country proud. I will continue to do this in the future as well," Panghal stated.
The 2017 version of the Asian Championships saw Panghal winning the bronze medal (in 49kg) however this time the 23-year-old, who used to be collaborating in his maiden global pageant since transferring up to the 52kg category from 49kg previous this year, claimed the top prize in style.
Panghal had to trade his weight category to 52kg since the 49kg category has been dropped from the Olympic programme for the Tokyo 2020 version.
"It is not easy to change the weight category. It requires a lot of hard work. We need to put in extra training, plan and make strategies for the new category," Panghal stated.
"52 kg is more challenging than 49 kg. I am short in height. Indian boxers are not that tall. In 52kg category, if you look at the other boxers (from other countries), they are tall. So I had to do a lot of weight training and work on my reach," Panghal defined.
"I discussed this with senior boxers who have fought in the 52kg category and watched videos of world-class boxers after they shifted to new weight categories," he stated.
Panghal has his eyes set now on the World Boxing Championships, to be held in September this year.
"The World Championship will be the quota place tournament for the Indian boxers. I am promising I will win the gold there as well. I want to win the first quota place in 52kg for my country," a assured Panghal told TimesofIndia.com.
India have received two medals in boxing in the Olympics to this point. Vijender Singh received bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, whilst MC Mary Kom bagged a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Panghal is assured that he can win a gold medal for India in Tokyo.
"We have two Olympic medals in boxing. Our stars Vijender bhai and Mary Kom have made the country proud. I want to win the gold medal for India in Tokyo. This is my ultimate dream," Panghal signed off.
Asian C'ships: How boxer Panghal overcame fever to win gold
![Asian C'ships: How boxer Panghal overcame fever to win gold]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
April 28, 2019
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