Indian boxer Amit Panghal trounced England’s Kiaran MacDonald in the men's 51kg category to win his maiden gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Panghal pulled off a stellar show in the summit clash to clinch the prestigious medal by unanimous decision 5-0 at the National Exhibition Centre. He had previously won a silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games back in 2018. Panghal had conceded a heart-breaking defeat against MacDonald in the final.
The 26-year-old pugilist scripted history in 2019 after becoming the first Indian male boxer to win a silver medal at the World Boxing Championships. Panghal did concede a 0-5 defeat in the 52kg category final against Uzbek opponent Shakhobidin Zoirov but that didn’t deter the Haryana-born from achieving a spectacular milestone.
This splendid win also made him the top-ranked boxer in his weight division in the AIBA rankings.
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Panghal’s first senior-level victory occurred back in 2017 after he clinched a gold medal on his debut national appearance. The same year, Panghal tasted his maiden success on the international circuit. He bagged a bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Championships in Tashkent.
Panghal improved his performance next year at the Asian Games and bagged a gold medal. In the final contest, Panghal defeated Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov 3-2 to win a much-coveted gold medal.
The year 2018 will not only remain to be a memorable one for Panghal in terms of championship wins but in that same year, a big change in his weight category also took place. Panghal had decided to promote himself to 52kg flyweight division. A transition of this stature is not an easy one for the boxers to handle but Panghal did not take too much time to excel in the new category.
In 2019, Panghal, while fighting in the new category, clinched his maiden and a solitary gold medal at the Asian Championships.
Panghal clinched a silver medal at the 2021 Asian Champions and this victory gave him much-needed confidence ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Panghal’s Olympics debut campaign came to a premature end after he crashed out of the high-profile tournament in his opening bout.
