Paris, July 27 (IANS): Two men Indian boxers will be fighting for glory at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal (men’s 51kg) will be participating in the Olympics for the second time and is India’s major medal prospect.
IANS bring you the profile of the two Indian pugilists.
Men’s
Amit Panghal (51 Kg)
Date of Birth: 16-10-1995
Place of Birth: Rohtak, Haryana
Stance: Southpaw
Amit Panghal is among the top pugilists in the country. He came into limelight with a rich haul in 2017 that included a bronze at the Asian Championships and he also reached the Quarter-finals at the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Amit also won a gold medal at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem Boxing tournament in Czechoslovakia, establishing himself as the rising star of the nation.
The 22-year-old continued his sublime form in 2018 which saw him come up with successive gold medals at the India Open International tournament in January, followed by the triumph in Bulgaria where he won the final at the 69th Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria. One of the shortest and lightest among male boxers, Panghal, grabbed the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to solidify his place as one of India’s great boxers.
Panghal won the gold medal in the men’s nationals held in November 2023 and continued on his form to clinch another gold at 75th Strandja Memorial Tournament held in Bulgaria in February.
Based on his exceptional form Panghal was selected in India’s squad for 2nd Olympic qualifiers in May in Thailand. Panghal was clinical in all his bouts and ended up winning the Paris Olympic quota in men’s 51kg.
Playing his second consecutive Olympics Panghal will surely benefit from his experience and will look to win a medal.
Achievements:
2024: Gold at Strandja Memorial Tournament
2022: Gold at Commonwealth Games
2022: Silver at Thailand Open
2021: Bronze at Governor’s Cup, Russia
2020: Gold at Cologne World Cup
2020: Bronze at Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifier, Jordan
2019: Silver at World Championships, Russia
2019: Gold at India Open, Guwahati
2019: Gold at Asian Championships, Bangkok, Thailand
2019: 70th Strandja Memorial Boxing Championships, Bulgaria: Gold
2018: Asian Games 2018, Jakarta: Gold
2018: Chemistry Cup, Halle: Bronze
2018: Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast: Silver
2018: 69th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament, Bulgaria: Gold
2018: India Open International Boxing Championships, New Delhi: Gold
2017: World Championships (Hamburg, GER): Quarter-finalist
2017: Grand Prix Ustinad Labem (Ustinad Labem, CZE): Gold
2017: ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships (Tashkent, UZB: Bronze)
2017: Strandja Memorial Tournament (Sofia, BUL): Bronze
2016: National Championships: Gold
2012: Indian Youth National Championships: 5th
2011: Indian Junior National Championships: Silver
2010: Indian Junior National Championships: Silver
2009: Indian Sub-Junior National Championships: Gold
Nishant Dev (71 kg)
Date of Birth: 23/12/2000
Hometown: Karnal, Haryana
Stance: Southpaw
Nishant Dev burst onto the scene when he reached the quarter-finals of the Elite World Boxing Championship in 2021 in his debut International tournament. That, however, was just a glimpse of the talent that Nishant Dev possesses. Nishant bettered his previous editions standing by winning the bronze medal at 2023 edition of the IBA Men's World Boxing Championships. The 22 year old displayed his ability through his world class performances by notching three wins by unanimous decisions and one by referee stopping the contest (RSC).
Hailing from Haryana’s Karnal district, Nishant started boxing in 2012, after getting inspired by his uncle who was a professional boxer. He used to train at Karan stadium under coach Surender Chauhan. He remembers those days when his Father used to wake him up at 4 AM and accompany him to the training centre before going along with his son again in the evening to make sure that he gets to train properly.
Representing Karnataka, he had lost in the quarter-final at his first Senior National Championships in Baddi in 2019, but impressed the then high-performance director of Indian boxing Santiago Nieva and joined the Indian camp to learn from the best in the business.
In 2021, he grabbed the gold medal at the National Championships and went on to represent India at the World Championships. It was the first International tournament of his career as before that, he had not even competed at Junior or Youth level internationally. He impressed everyone with his fearless boxing as he played without any pressure.
He defeated Hungary’s nine-time National Champion Laszlo Kozak in the first round before outclassing two time Olympian Merven Clair of Mauritius in the second round. High on confidence after defeating two big names, he went on to win against Mexico’s Marco Alvarez Verde before bowing out in the quarter-finals.
Nishant had dislocated his right shoulder in 2010 after falling from stairs. The old injury came back to haunt him at the beginning of 2022 as the rod that was put in his shoulder in 2010 got infected. He underwent surgery in March and was in rehab for most of the year. During his rehabilitation period, he had a lot of doubts and insecurities regarding his comeback but he kept fighting on and worked on his strength, power and conditioning. Despite limited training, he came back strongly to retain his title at the National Boxing Championships in Hisar in January 2023.
At the 2023 World Championships, he impressed everyone and won the bronze medal.
Nishant’s impressive run continued as he reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China losing against former world champion Japan’s Okazawa Sewonrets.
Nishant also made it to the final stage of the first Olympic qualifiers held in Italy in March and was one win away from securing the quota, eventually losing the bout 1-4. The hard work didn't stop as when the Southpaw got another opportunity in 2nd Olympic qualifiers in May in Thailand he made sure to comeback with a quota in men’s 71kg.
Fitter, stronger and wiser, Nishant, is a fan of Floyd Mayweather
Achievements:
2023- Quarter-Final Finish at Asian Games 2022
2023 - Bronze at Men’s World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2023 – Gold medal at 6th Elite Men's National Boxing Championship
2021- Quarter-Final Finish at World Championships, Serbia
2021 - Gold medal at 5th Elite Men's National Boxing Championship
2019 - Gold medal at Grand Slam Asian boxing championship
2019 - Silver medal at 4th elite men’s national boxing championship
2019 - Gold medal at 2nd Khelo India youth games