The judges' scoreline in the final of the 52kg final at the World Boxing Championships might have showed a defeat to Uzbekistan's Shakhobidin Zoirov, but Amit Panghal would believe he was the people's champion. "I got so much respect from all the other boxers in Russia. They kept saying "India number 1. That gives me a lot of confidence," says Panghal, who won India's first silver medal at the world championships.
Of course while peer approval is great, Panghal would prefer to have won the gold medal instead. "Of course the silver is great and I know people are happy about it, but I felt I had won the gold. There is still a little bit of sadness about it," he says.
This isn't the first time the 23-year-old from Rohtak has come out on the receiving end of a decision againt an Uzbek boxer that should have been far closer than it read on paper. Back at the 2017 World Championships, Panghal went down 0-5 to another Uzbek Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov. "You know the Uzbek gets an advantage, but you don't know why. It's not just me. It's with other boxers too. Perhaps, because they are the Olympic champion (both Dusmatov and Zoirov won titles at Rio), the judges favor them a little bit more," says Panghal.
But even Panghal would feel that his bout against Zoirov was a far closer one than the contest against Dusmatov two years ago and that's because of how much he's improved as a boxer. "I've learned how to become more attacking as a boxer. I used to throw a lot of single punches before. Now after I hit the opponent for the first time, I try to keep hitting and picking up the score. It's something I'm doing a lot more over the last few years. It's something I've learned both from observing other boxers but also something I've picked up on my own," says Panghal.
While he's a far better boxer than he was then, Panghal feels there's still room to improve. "I'm at an OK level. I'm not great but I'm not at a level where I can lose to just anyone. If I box at my 100 percent, there's no one I can lose to," he says.
One area he hopes to improve on is just how quickly he reads his opponent. "The first round is one which I'm never sure of winning because that's when I try to figure out what I have to do. I see what kind of game he is playing. Is he attacking or defending? Is he playing counter attacking? Then I know how I have to box and I always do better in the second and third round. But that time I take in the first round sometimes makes the judges score against me. I have to find a way to become more aggressive in the first round also," he says.
Panghal knows he can't rest on his achievement because he now has a target on his back. "When you are a boxer who has medalled in every competition you have played over the last year, everyone wants to beat you. I know the other boxers will be studying me. So I have to get better from now on also," he says.
His first big test will come at the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifiers in February next year. Panghal was seeded at the World Championships, but there's no guarantee he will avoid Zoirov until the final round on that occasion. Panghal though, is up for the task. If Panghal knows he has to improve, he now also knows Zoirov's game. It was the same with Dusmatov two years earlier. "The first couple of times I boxed Dusmatov, I understood his game perfectly. At the Asian Games (where Panghal beat Dusmatov to win gold), I knew that he has just one punch and I just have to avoid that left hook. Against Zoirov, I now know that he is a boxer who will throw a lot of punches quickly at close range and then move out. But he is someone who doesn't like being defensive. The moment I started pressuring him, woh thoda hadbada gaya (He got a little shaken up). He was nervous for the last two rounds. The next time I meet him, I won't let the judges have any doubt who has won," he says.