Why boxer Amit Panghal is in no mood to celebrate latest gold medal at Strandja Memorial
There wasn’t any jumping in the air or even a hint of a smile when the referee raised his hand. When a glum Amit Panghal won the gold medal at the Strandja Memorial, he had done what had to be done – an act that he has been monotonously carrying out since the Commonwealth Games.Gone was the confidence and swagger of a man who had become the first Indian male boxer to win a silver medal at the World Championships. This Panghal was more like the one at the Tokyo Olympics, left crumpled in a heap after a shock defeat despite being the top seed in his weight class.
Since that crushing loss, he has only been part of one major event – the 2022 Birmingham CWG. Two World Championships and an Asian Games have since passed and the boxer has found himself sliding down the pecking order in relation...