World No.44 to Asia’s best, how Indian boxers turned a corner
Indian Boxing Reaches the Top of Asia After Strong Asian Games Campaign
Bharatmorning.com – India’s boxers produced their best-ever finish at the Asian Games in Japan, collecting six medals and leading the sport’s overall medal standings for the first time. The contingent secured three gold medals and three bronze medals, a result that underlined the progress made by Indian boxing over recent seasons.
Lovlina Borgohain won gold in the 75kg category, while Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) also finished atop the podium. Kapil Pokhariya in 90kg, Narender Berwal in the over-90kg division and Priya Ghanghas in 60kg added bronze medals.
The performance marked a dramatic improvement from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where India managed one silver and three bronze medals and stood ninth in the boxing rankings. This time, the medal spread across several weight classes illustrated both established quality and emerging depth.
Recent Results Had Pointed to a Rise
The Japan campaign did not arrive in isolation. Indian boxers have built momentum through a series of notable results at major competitions. At this year’s Asian Championships, India earned a competition-high 16 medals and ranked second behind Kazakhstan when gold medals were used to separate the teams. Kazakhstan won 13 medals in total.
India also finished third at the 2025 World Championships with four medals: two gold, one silver and one bronze. Kazakhstan topped that table with 10 medals, including seven gold, while Uzbekistan placed second with 11 medals and six titles.
The Commonwealth Games in July and August offered another sign of the team’s improving level. India topped the boxing medals list with seven gold medals and three silver medals, its best haul at the event. That result needed to be viewed in context, however, because major Asian boxing powers including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China do not compete at the Commonwealth Games. The Asian Games therefore provided a tougher measure of India’s standing against leading regional rivals.
Heavyweight Success Adds a New Dimension
Borgohain’s medal was a continuation of her record at the Asian Games. Having won silver in Hangzhou, the experienced boxer was among India’s strongest medal prospects. The medals in the heavier divisions, though, provided an especially encouraging aspect of the campaign.
“We expected these many medals but from different weight categories,” national coach CA Kuttappa said. “Ankush has been a revelation. Narender is a medallist from the last Asiad and Kapil has a lot of potential.”
Panghal’s route to gold has involved a carefully planned move through the weight categories. Last year, he was beaten by Hitesh Gulia in the Inter-Services final at 70kg. Panghal had wanted to compete at 75kg, which is not an Olympic category, but his usual maintenance weight of 82kg to 83kg led the coaching staff to guide him toward the Olympic 80kg division.
“We would want his maintenance weight to be around 85kg. That will add a lot to his power. He has strong basics and a very good counter-attacking game,” Kuttappa said.
The move reflects the importance of aligning an athlete’s physical profile with a suitable competition class. For a boxer, the decision affects not only strength but also speed, endurance and the ability to execute tactics against opponents of a similar size.
Sports Science Becomes Part of Daily Preparation
India’s climb from world No. 44 roughly a decade ago to the leading boxing nation at the Asian Games has also been supported by a more systematic use of performance technology. The push to strengthen sports-science support gathered pace after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. By the end of 2023, the Boxing Federation of India had acquired equipment designed to gather, track and assess athlete data.
The purchases, valued at about ₹2.5 crore, included GymAware velocity trackers for monitoring strength and physical development, Firstbeat heart-rate systems and Force Plates for jump testing. These tools allow coaches and support staff to go beyond observation alone when deciding whether an athlete needs harder work, technical adjustments or additional recovery.
Boxers have also worn Whoop bands to monitor resting heart rate, sleep and other markers linked to recovery. A lower resting heart rate can indicate that an athlete is recovering well, giving the performance team greater confidence when planning the final stages of preparation before competition.
Parveen’s preparations offered a practical example of how those measurements were used. Her resting heart rate fell by around 10% from her baseline level. When reviewed together with sleep information and other recovery data, the reading suggested that she was responding positively to her training programme.
Jump assessments also highlighted an area where Parveen could improve: the speed of her first movement. Coaches were able to focus more specifically on initiating movement faster and developing explosive strength. Rather than treating data as an end in itself, the objective was to convert it into clear training decisions for the boxer and coaching team.
“Such sophisticated equipment is a bit of a novelty in our sport. Only the USA and China were using it before us, and the idea took shape after a training trip to USA in 2023,” a Boxing Federation of India official said.
International Sparring Strengthened the Final Phase
The final preparation block at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala included training with visiting boxers from the Dominican Republic and Iran. The Dominican group featured seven women and three men, while Iran sent competitors in the over-90kg, 55kg and 60kg categories.
For Indian boxers, these sessions created an opportunity to test themselves against different styles before the Asian Games. The Dominican athletes brought a technically polished approach, while the Iranian boxers offered a style closer to those commonly associated with competitors from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
“It was a real gamechanger. There were a few Olympic medallists among them and our boxers learned a lot while sparring with them. The Dominicans are very good technical boxers, while the Iranians' style is similar to that of the Uzbeks and Kazakhs. It was a wholesome experience. In Japan, North Kore showed interest in coming to India and training with us,” Kuttappa said.
The Asian Games result gives India more than medals to celebrate. It suggests that structured weight planning, broader sparring exposure and closer monitoring of recovery are helping turn potential into results across multiple divisions. The challenge now will be to sustain that system as the team prepares for future international competition.
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