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Athletes overcoming hardships often make limited opportunities count, thereby rising to stardom and staying grounded, and in a world of pugilists bound for the Tokyo Olympics 2021, Amit Panghal is one such.
There is a lot that adversity can teach. It gives you perseverance, the willpower to withstand hardships, and a mentality to strive for the best, among other traits.
Born to farmers in a village, Maina, in Haryana’s Rohtak district, Amit Panghal faced challenges right at birth. He only weighed a paltry 1.5 kg at birth. It sent his parents into a tizzy, but as time went on, Amit Panghal managed to grow healthy.
Amit Panghal and his older brother, Ajay Panghal, were hooked on boxing and started honing their skills in a training center in their village, run by a state-level boxer, Anil Dhankar.
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Amit Panghal was soon the cynosure of all eyes. He was lean and just 12 years old but he made eyes turn when he fought fearlessly with boys sometimes double his age. Two years later, Amit Panghal participated in the national sub-junior tournament and returned with the gold medal.
Sacrifice shows the way
The bane of being born in a modest agricultural family in India is that only one child can pursue a dream. With a yield from the Panghal's agricultural produce just enough for a hand-to-mouth existence, any notion of pursuing dreams was on the fringe of shattering.
As and when Amit became better at boxing, the need for equipment and dietary requirements started cropping up. At one stage, Amit Panghal had to fight with bare hands for months together, as his family couldn’t provide the necessary monetary help for a new pair of gloves.
A healthy diet was the last thing on Amit’s mind and winning bouts on an empty stomach threatened to become the norm. His lanky figure wasn’t helping much and dietary requirements soon became a necessity.
That’s when Ajay stood up for the family.
In 2011, he decided to join the Indian Army in the rank of a Naib for two reasons. One, it would provide a steady income for the family and two, it would give wings to Amit’s dream of becoming an international boxer. All this meant Ajay’s training would only remain a part of history but he had to do it to support Amit’s dream of becoming an international boxer.
His brother’s sacrifice made Amit Panghal even more motivated.
When his coach moved to Gurgaon, Amit Panghal too made the move – a decision he wouldn’t rue. With better training facilities and extra motivation, there was now little to stop Amit Panghal from rising up the ladder.
No looking back for Amit Panghal
After dominating the junior circuit for years, Amit Panghal entered the senior stage in 2017. The National Championship was his first stop and Amit wouldn’t settle for anything less than a gold medal. Soon, international medals followed, and it was at the Asian Championship that Amit came home with a bronze medal.
At the World Boxing Championships, which were held in the same year, Amit Panghal couldn’t move past the last-four stage. However, he managed to get enough match practice ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Amit Panghal punched above his weight and won the silver medal, which was just the start of his rich international exploits, so much so that he was nicknamed "chhota Tyson."
In his first-ever Asian Games, Amit Panghal won the gold medal, beating Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov, his nemesis – against whom he had lost three times earlier. Amit Panghal had also changed his weight category to 52 kg from 48 kg to be eligible for the Tokyo Olympics, which would be then-held two years later.
Amit Panghal wouldn’t settle for anything less than a gold medal in most of the international tournaments, and in the process, also became the first Indian boxer to make a final at the Worlds.
When Amit Panghal gets on to the ring at the Tokyo Olympics, his first, he will take rich experiences from all his adversities, which have made him stronger and ever-resilient.
