Tokyo Olympics 2020-bound boxer Amit Panghal used lockdown to work on tackling taller opponents

When the national camp for India’s top boxers began at Patiala’s NIS in August after nearly six months of them training by themselves due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a catch: they could not spar or get into the ring.

In a year where little has been anywhere close to normal, Amit Panghal, one of India’s best contenders for winning a medal in the boxing ring at the Tokyo Olympics next year, has managed to salvage the down time by fine-tuning his technique.

Panghal was among the nine Indian boxers to have sealed a quota for the now-deferred Tokyo Olympics in March at the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers.

“This year after sealing qualification, I got the opportunity to work on my shortcomings as a boxer,” Panghal told Firstpost. “In my weight class, I usually have to face off against taller boxers. So I have been working on negating the opponent’s reach during boxing bouts. I also thought that I needed more power in my punches, even during the World Championships (where he won silver). I worked on that as well.”

But how does a boxer work on limiting the reach of taller boxers?

“The easiest way to negate taller boxers is to get as close to them as possible. That way you can free your arms and throw punches, but their arms get cramped,” he said, before adding that the best boxers in his weight class hail from Uzbekistan or Cuba.

And how does a boxer increase the power of their punches?

“You can do that by training with boxers who compete in one weight class higher than yours. That’s how you get used to taking their punches and fighting more powerful boxers. But since the lockdown, I’ve trained a lot against punching bags,” he added.

Panghal is certain that despite the half-a-year spent without sparring and competitions, Indian boxers will do very well at Tokyo 2020.

“We’ll be better boxers by the time the Olympics happen. I think it will benefit us at the Olympics,” he said. “It wasn’t just the Indian boxers who were confined to our homes at the start of the lockdowns across the world. No one in the world was able to train fully.”

When staying home, Panghal said, he used the time to focus on maintaining his fitness. “During the lockdown, from very early on, I focussed on maintaining my fitness. I used my morning sessions only on fitness drills. I didn’t do any boxing in mornings. And then evenings were reserved for boxing sessions.”

Panghal said the federation and coaches were planning to send boxers who have qualified for Tokyo Olympics and their sparring partners abroad for a month-long training camp, but said he didn’t know what country they would be going to.

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