Commonwealth Games 2022 boxing: Amit Panghal, Sagar into final; Hussamuddin, Rohit Tokas win bronze

India’s Amit Panghal advanced to the men’s 51kg flyweight final at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, UK.

The Indian boxer beat Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian, by unanimous decision in the semi-final.

This is Amit Panghal’s second-consecutive Commonwealth Games final - he had won silver at Gold Coast 2018. The Indian boxer will fight for gold against Kiaran McDonald of England in the final on Sunday.

Amit Panghal was defensive to start with, circling the ring and inviting Chinyemba to attack. When the Zambian did go for his punches, the Indian dodged them expertly and landed a couple of counterpunches of his own, connecting with his left jabs.

The bout got more aggressive in the second round with both boxers attempting to gain the upper hand but neither convinced the judges enough to clearly move ahead.

Amit Panghal continued to be circumspect in the final round but managed to land his counter-punches with accuracy and it helped him earn a unanimous decision from the judges.

Fellow boxer Sagar also made it to the final in the men’s 92+ kg super heavyweight after getting past Nigerian boxer Ifeanyi Onyekwere by unanimous decision in the last four.

India’s Mohammad Hussamuddin ended up with the bronze medal in the men’s 57kg featherweight after losing by split decision to Ghana’s Joseph Commey in the semis.

This is Hussamuddin’s second Commonwealth Games medal, having also won bronze at Gold Coast 2018.

Another Indian boxer Rohit Tokas also won the bronze after going down by split decision to Tokyo Olympian Stephen Zimba of Zambia in the men’s 67kg welterweight.