Dharmendra fan - Amit Panghal sets his sights on the 52kg category for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

“In my early days, since I was weak I couldn’t train hard. My brother Ajay and coach Dhanker introduced changes in my diet — I started to have more fruits and more non-vegetarian food to improve my health and gain power. In the morning I had fruit juice and one extra roti. More vegetables and fruits followed for lunch. For dinner, I started having more and more chicken. Power coupled with speed is very useful in this weight category.

Panghal would now have to move up to the flyweight (49kg) category if he is hoping to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with the 49kg weight class missing out from the Games. “Now I have to compete in 52kg and coaches will get me ready for that, so all concentration is towards that. BFI (Boxing Federation of India) is a great federation, coach Santiago (Nieva) has always been fair. I have to fight and practice against 52kg champion and beat him. I have to see how I can become No. 1 in that category,” Amit told TOI.

“My father and coincidentally my coach (Anil Dhanker) are big fans of Dharmendra. When we were at home, we always had Dharmendra movies on TV. We weren’t even allowed to change channels during ad breaks when his movies were on. In DPs (display pictures) or on his social media status, everywhere it was Dharmendra ji for my dad. After my win, people asked me if I wanted something, so I said me and my father wanted to meet Dharmendra. Surprisingly, Dharmendra ji also tweeted that he wanted to meet us, which was just wonderful,” Panghal added.