Boxing | It has been a dream come true year for me, Says Amit Panghal

With less than 24 months remaining for the upcoming Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo, the Arjuna Awardee, Amit Panghal has a task at hand. It is to change his weight category from the Light Fly Weight(49 kg) to the Super Fly Weight(52 kg). All his career up until now Panghal has played in the 49 kg category, he has to change it all because in Tokyo Olympics boxing won’t have a light Fly Weight category.

"This year has been a dream come true, but the next year will be tougher given the expectations that boxing fans will have from me. Nevertheless, I am prepared to put in the hard work and achieve bigger targets. It will be very challenging to move to the 52 kg category but I am going to accept it” Panghal said in a campaign which he attended on Wednesday.

Boxing Federation of India is also keen on getting its best pugilists ready for the Summer Olympics, so it is planning to send Amit Panghal to USA to get the best training and to also upgrade his weight category.

"I am not sure about the exact dates, but it will happen once the visa formalities and other issues are taken care of".

Amit Panghal was the lone Gold medal winner in boxing for India at the Asian Games, even though the boxing contingent from India had ten participants. That medal has catapulted the popularity of the amateur boxer to the next level and he says that he enjoys the limelight he gets.

"I always wanted to become famous. I would ask myself when will fans come and request me for pictures, when will the media want to talk to me. I am so happy that it has started happening now".

The Haryana lad also gets his inspiration from another Haryana born Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh. 

"Surprisingly, I have not got a chance to speak to him yet. He had come to our training centre during the national camp, but I was not present there as I had taken leave for some work. I missed talking to him but I draw a lot of inspiration from him."