Amit Panghal must be wary of over-confidence: Venkatesan Devarajan

Amit Panghal will enter Tokyo 2020 as the world’s number one in men’s flyweight (52 kg) category. Interestingly, he is the only Indian boxer amongst the nine-member contingent who is seeded number one by International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Boxing Task Force (BTF).

Thanks to his top seeding, Panghal is unlikely to face any of the top boxers until the quarterfinals.

The 25-year-old will face tough competition from the likes of France’s Bilal Bennama (ranked number two), Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi (world number three), China’s Hu Jianguan (world number four) and Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov (world number five).

Panghal does not have a good record against Zoirov, who will be defending his gold medal he won at Rio 2016, having lost all three bouts. Although he has defeated the likes of Bennama and Jianguan in the past, the going certainly would not be easy for the Rohtak-born boxer.

Venkatesan Devarajan, who competed at the Barcelona 1992 Games, pointed that Panghal will have to innovate his approach during the competition and that a good ranking does not always guarantee results.

**“**Amit Panghal is boxing really well. He is the world number one in flyweight category but that does not assure that he will win all his fights (at the Olympics). He will have to come up with new strategies for the Olympics. It is important for him not to be over-confident,” Devarajan told Olympics.com.

Panghal is not the tallest of boxers in the circuit and stands at five feet two inches. Compared to Zoirov, he is at least four and a half inches shorter than the Olympic gold medallist.

“His height is short but he's a clever fighter with good knowledge of distance fighting. He knows how to maintain distance and covers it well,” Devarajan came to Panghal’s defence.

He also observed that it is vital for the remaining Indian boxers to be in pristine condition and ‘feel good’ after their first bout. Vikas Krishan an Manish Kaushik have been alredy knocked out after losing their first round bouts.

“I think for all the remaining boxers, it will be important to feel that it is the first fight of their life. It will help them perform better,” he mentioned.

When does Amit Panghal's campaign in Tokyo 2020 begin?

Amit Panghal will begin his campaign on July 31, Saturday, against his Colombian counter-part Yuberjen Martinez in the men's flyweight Round of 16 clash.