Medal hopeful Amit Panghal offers TOI a rare peek into the mind of a champion boxer…He will enter the Tokyo Olympics as the No.
1 boxer in the world in his weight category (52 kg).
The entire nation is expecting a medal from him.
But in front of Amit Panghal lies a gargantuan obstacle in the form of Rio Olympics gold medallist Shakhobidin Zoirov, who has defeated the Indian thrice in three meetings so far.
Will Amit get the better of Zoirov at the Olympics? And how are his preparations going? Amit answered these questions and many more in this TOI exclusive…
Are you nervous as the Olympics nears?My preparation is going on in full swing.
My endeavour is to make sure my skills remain strong.
It is my first Olympics, so there is a bit of nervousness.
The country expects from me, and I also want to give my best and get a medal for the country.
Due to the Covid situation, your preparations got affected a lot last year.
How much has it hit you psychologically?Boxing is a contact sport.
Last year, I couldn’t practice or spar with a partner.
It is for the last five to six months that we have managed some proper training as well as competitions.
Right now, I don’t want to think about what’s in the past.
Priority is to be in top physical as well as mental condition.
There’ll be no spectators at the Olympics this time.
Boxers thrive on the support they get from their fans in the arena.
Will it affect you?My confidence stems from my practice and training.
It’ll be sad that some of my supporters, who had planned to go to Tokyo, won’t be there.
Many of them had told me that they’ll travel and support me from the stands.
But, once I enter the ring my focus is always on the opponent.
I rarely hear what people are shouting from the stands.
At the end of the day, when you’re representing your country you should not need extra motivation.
Three losses in three bouts against Shakobidin Zoirov, who is going to be your biggest challenge at the Games.
Any special preparations?The last one (at the Asian Championships final) was actually won by me.
But you know how the judging and scoring was.
I don’t want to dwell over that bout.
I know that I’ve made quite a lot of progress in terms of my plans to tackle him (Zoirov).
I am not going to reveal those here.
But I can assure you if I face him at the Olympics, my effort is going to be even more than what it was at the Asian final.
How important is rest for a boxer?Rest is as important as our practice.
In boxing, there are three rounds of three minutes each of high intensity.
After one fight, a boxer gets completely exhausted.
I can tell you one feels as if your life is gone.
That’s why we need to recover — so much so that we can put our best again in the next round.
For that, rest, rest and only rest is going to help.
For a layman, can you share what happens to you, what is your state after a fierce fight?A normal person won’t be able to imagine.
A boxer will surely come out of such a fight injured, some kind of injury is certainly going to happen.
Physically, it gets really tough.
After one intense bout, my forehead pains and keeps on throbbing, my shoulder, my back hurts.
Every boxer will feel a lot of pain, whether it is elbow, shoulder or back.
Ask anyone, getting a cut, blood oozing out is common.
Everyone moves on because he has to play the next bout.
We do face a lot of injuries, but the challenge is to control that and come back to the ring again.
Weight loss, quite naturally, is a resulting problem then…For lower weight categories like mine, it is a massive challenge.
Every round you progress in a tournament, the challenge to maintain your weight and not lose out drastically is huge.
When we lose weight, we also lose power.
Anyone who has followed your career has witnessed you defeating stronger and bigger opponents.
What’s your thinking process when you face such an opponent?I have been beating bigger opponents since my childhood.
Kaafi ladaaku tha main (I was quite aggressive).
Even now, I don’t think about the size or reputation of my opponent.
I go into the ring with the same attitude that I had when I was young.
The only thing that has changed is now along with my aggression, I also play a tactical game.
When to attack, when to step back a little, that’s the key.
There was a revolution in Haryana after Vijender Singh’s bronze at the Beijing Olympics.
How much did that Olympic medal inspire you?I had started boxing by that time, but didn’t know what path we should follow.
When Vijender Singh won the medal, the game got immensely popular in Haryana.
Then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had named the state Mini Cuba.
Definitely, that Olympic medal inspired me a lot.
Right now, obviously, your training and practice is of utmost importance.
But when you’re not training, what do you do to relax?Nowadays, we don’t even get time to talk to our friends and close ones.
But on Sunday, I may watch a movie online or play a game on the phone.
Manish (Kaushik) and Sanjeet (Kumar) also join.
It’s just a good time pass and some entertainment.