BFI has some explaining to do

It was a sight to savour for any boxing fan how he moved swiftly around the ring in his righthanded stance about 100 pounds of springy buoyant energy He circled Englands Kiaran Macdonald deftly ducked punches and landed right hooks straight on the face for maximum pointsAmit Panghal had every answer for Macdonalds punches his fists almost skimming the glass his wiry body rippling with an agitated furious energy He then dipped low and weaved as he reined in a flurry of punches on his opponent while also defending with easeThe Englishman needed a bit of treatment for an injury above his right eye after which he ramped up the aggression Panghal let it come at him feinting defending counterpunching and occasionally mdash and deliciously mdash attacking The jabs flew at lightning speeds the uppercuts arrived without warning and the hooks unsettled his opponentBy then the judges and I had little doubt as in no time Panghal celebrated another 50 unanimous win with a salute to the crowd and his usual namaste as well The Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold seems like it was won yesterdayAmit Panghal after securing his maiden CWG gold Pic Getty ImagesCall it guts or courage It remains to be one of the most underestimated characteristics that all boxers needWhen you get into the ring you face an opponent who will try to hit you with hard punches so that you fail Even the worlds best fighters get hit hard in their boutsYou know this in advance It takes guts to get in the ring and fight knowing you are going to get hit It takes even more guts to keep fighting with discipline and precision after you have gotten hurt It is perhaps not surprising then that Indias lone mens boxing world championships silver medallist cannot seem to give up the fight Be it inside or outside the ringIf you look behind the medals and global recognition there is a turf battle that makes its way to the public eye every once in a whileThe latest flashpoint was former World No 1 Panghals claim that he was being denied a lsquofairrsquo trial for the Asian Games The underlying problem here I am afraid is the increasing control the Boxing Federation of India BFI is looking to exercise over the career of our medallistsIt will take a long time before the sting from sitting out the tournament fades away for Panghal But whatmay even burn more is that it appears the 27yearold boxerrsquos Asian Gamesrsquo hopes were sacrificed by his own national federation to improve the medal chances of another Haryana resident Deepak Kumar BhoriaI have requested for a fair trial I cannot understand this new points system On what basis have they been selecting boxers Panghal who is the reigning Asian Games light flyweight champion told Midday on Sunday Even during the World Championships he Deepak was selected in my weight class based on this system but he lost to the player I had beaten 50 but I cannot understand why they are still continuing with itAlso Read They came they played they conqueredPanghal has now filed a writ petition in Punjab and Haryana high court along with two other boxers Sagar Ahlawat and Rohit Mor against the BFI after being left out from the Indian squad for the continental event to be held from September 23 to October 8 in China Sagar 92kg and Rohit 57kg also finished second in their respective weight categories behind Sachin Siwach and Narender Berwal under BFIs selection policy respectivelyCommonwealth Games silver medallist Sagar also claimed that the new system of selection is biased Last time there were trials CWG The boxer who is selected I had beaten him 50 Now they are doing an assessment they select whoever they want They have no procedure he told PTIThe beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from youTraining learning pictwittercomt5SUM7rlY4mdash Subedar Amit Panghal BoxerPanghal June 2 2023Panghal a 2018 Asian Games champion has medalled in all big ticket events barring the Olympics He had defeated world championship bronze medallist Deepak who has been selected in the 51kg weight class for the upcoming event during the Commonwealth Games trial last yearI have beaten him in trials in the past I am far ahead of him in the points system as well and yet I am at the receiving end of such bias At the end of the week I am somehow Number 2 and I dont know whyrdquo lamented PanghalThe BFI meanwhile defended its decision by saying that the new selection process has been made clear to all boxers in the camp and the same will be followed for the Asian Games According to the new selection policy which has been in place since this year boxers undergo an evaluation process for three weeks where they are judged on various parametersPanghal said he felt betrayed by his own federation and questioned the politics that surrounded the sometimes murky process for choosing the boxers for the continental tournament It created a weekslong emotional rollercoaster with multiple deadlines for decisions that came and went leaving him in a frustrating limboArguing there is no transparency in the new evaluation system Panghal remarked It is not justified Tell us where we are going wrong How would we know that I dont understand this evaluation They dont tell us anything When I enquired I was told that they assessed on weight training but I am ahead of him in that as well Then why am I rated below him today I dont understand Where are my points being deducted where exactly my opponent is scoring no one knows and they dont tell us I dont know what how and where to improveThe Punjab and Haryana high court has sought a response from the BFI as well as the Sports Ministry The hearing for the case is scheduled for Monday and Panghal is hopeful of a favourable verdictThe hearing is on Monday I hope it will be in my favour as I am ahead of him in all the tests I think justice will prevail I strongly feel whoever is the strongest should go on to represent the country in the endrdquo he saidPanghal further alleged that he has been made to feel demotivated during his time at the national campTraining is going on as usual But there has been a change in peoples behavioural attitude towards me The court case has taken an ugly turn here I have been demotivated and made to feel useless in the camp It seems as if I am not part of the camp I am being made to feel like an outsider hereSome hustle for respect Some hustle for love Others hustle for truth We all hustle to survive pictwittercomuuV88LLMnamdash Subedar Amit Panghal BoxerPanghal June 29 2023The boxing federation has banged on about a mantra of always picking the best possible Indian team since time immemorialI dare say stats can be skewed sometimes to suggest someone is in a form slump when he probably isnt or vice versa but theres no way of twisting those figures to suggest anything other than he is in rare airAnd thats without even mentioning the manner in which he has hogged the limelight for the country time and again That form shouldnt just edge you into a team It should just about make sure the team is picked around youBut a trial is all that I am asking for Madamrdquo Panghal reiterates ldquoI would give up on it if I lose but at least let us all play fair he signs offThis story was originally published on July 24