‘My best performance,’ Amit Panghal hails Asian boxing final against Shakhobidin Zoirov
Amit Panghal won a silver medal at the Asian Boxing Championships after going down 3-2 to reigning Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov in the final.
Tokyo-bound Indian boxer Amit Panghal has declared his final bout against Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov at the Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai earlier this week as his best performance yet.
In the 52kg final, the world No. 1 Amit Panghal lost by a 3-2 split decision to Zoirov, the reigning Olympic and world champion. Though the result didn’t go down well with Panghal, the Indian boxer was nevertheless happy.
“That, by far, was the best performance by me in the flyweight category. I should have won that final and I was angry when I did not,” Amit Panghal told PTI. “I had given it my all and I felt I deserved to win but it’s ok. It can happen.
“It was still way better than the last time I lost to him. The score-line has narrowed down to 3-2, it was 5-0 earlier,” Panghal pointed out.
The last time the two had met was at the final of the 2019 World Boxing Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia. It’s where Zoirov was crowned world champion and Panghal had to settle for silver.
Going into the Asian Boxing Championships, Amit Panghal was keen to gauge his progress ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in July-August.
With the lack of serious competition due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian meet was the only high-profile event the Indian boxer could bank upon. Panghal now knows what he has to do next.
“I have improved but my third rounds can be better. I don't think I landed enough scoring punches in the third round,” Paghal said. “I have improved enough to ensure that my first rounds start early, I used to hold back earlier.”
The change worked well for the Indian boxer as he often put the opponent on the back foot with a flurry of punches before consolidating his advantage with some smart boxing.
Amit Panghal’s newfound attacking intent also meant that he looked for scoring opportunities during clinches -- a defensive tactic that sees a boxer wrap their arms around an opponent to limit their attacks -- as well.
“This was the first time I tried that (punching during clinches),” Panghal said. “It is something that my coach (Anil Dhanker) taught me. He told me that clinches should not be about stopping, that I should keep hitting. I have been working on this.”