Asian Games: Amit Panghal lands gold with win over Olympic champion | Asian Games 2018 News

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Coach Santiago Nieva swirled the towel over his head like a mad man as the judges announced the name of the winner. He had reasons to go overboard. Young Amit Panghal had punched well above his weight to pull off an incredible win over Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan to secure India's first boxing gold in Jakarta on Saturday.

READ ALSO: No cash to replace gloves, Amit Panghal even trained bare-handed

No one expected the boxer from Rohtak to do the unthinkable in the 49kg bout. He was up against a world silver medallist, who was adjudged the best AIBA elite boxer two years back and also the best pugilist at the Rio Olympics.

Amit gave ample example of his boxing pedigree by coming up with a fight no one had expected from the 22-year-old Indian, who was still learning the tricks of the trade when Dusmatov was destroying his opponents on way to Olympic glory.

Amit, who could not make it to the side for Rio, came to the bout fully prepared with loads of confidence. He had studied the game of his famed rival well and was prepared to take him head on. His tactics worked as he came up with an attacking game and unleashed a flurry of punches in the first round to unsettle his rival.

He took the first round, but the fight was far from over. Dusmatov tried to bounce back in the second, and Amit ensured that the hard work put in till then did not go waste by playing aggressively in the third. It paid off as he forced the Uzbek boxer on the back foot and did enough to ensure his win in the battle of southpaws.

This is the second time the Uzbek has lost to an Indian boxer this year. Mizo boy Nutlai Lalbiakkima had upset the favourite in the quarterfinals of the President's Cup in Astana (Kazakhstan) in June.

"My strategy was to play an attacking game and I started with a lot of intent from the first round. During the camps in England before the Asian Games, I had worked on my strength and stamina. That helped me today."


Hasanboy is one of the best boxers in the world in this weight category and was a firm favourite to repeat his Rio feat at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 - but now he has a new threat to worry about.


Amit's win helped India finish their boxing campaign with a gold. It was the first for Indian men boxers since the two won in the Guangzhou Games eight years back when Vikas Krishan and Vijender Singh finished on top of the podium.


"This is the biggest medal of my life. I am very satisfied with my performance. It's a big thing for me to fight an Olympic champion and beat him. I had lost to him before today, so I am happy to have taken revenge."

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