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Amit Panghal clinches gold in flyweight boxing, wins his second Commonwealth Games medal
India's Amit Panghal won his first Commonwealth Games gold medal on Sunday when he defeated England's Kiran MacDonald in the final of the men's flyweight boxing.
India's Amit Panghal won a gold medal on the penultimate day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Sunday. Amit beat England's Kiaran MacDonald in the final of the men's flyweight category, thus winning his first-ever gold medal at the Games. This is Amit's second medal at the Games overall, having won a silver in the previous edition in Gold Coast. This is Amit's seventh major medal (1 silver in World Boxing C'ships, 1 gold in Asian games, 1 gold and 1 silver in CWG, and a gold, a silver, and a bronze each at the Asian Boxing C'ships).
The 26-year-old Indian boxer, who had faced a shock opening round loss in the Olympics last year, produced strong performances throughout the 2022 CWG en route to the final. He defeated Vanautu's Namri Berry 5-0 in the first round, and secured a victory with a similar margin in his quarter-final match against Scotland's Lennon Mulligan.
Amit registered a victory in a closely-fought against Zambia's Tokyo 2020 Olympian Patrick Chinyemba of Zambia, as he came from behind to beat an aggressive boxer 5-0 unanimous decision win. Trailing 2-3 initially, Amit, who looked to put behind the ghost of the Tokyo Olympics where he made a first round exit, had to dig deep in his reservoir of experience. The Asian Games champion upped the ante, landing hooks and jabs at will to take the round.
The final three minutes were keenly contested with both pugilists trying to leave an impression but the judges eventually ruled in favour of Amit.
This was India's second medal in boxing after Nitu Ghanghas won a gold/silver medal earlier in the day. Incidentally, Nitu also defeated home favourite Demie-Jade Resztan in the final to clinch a top podium finish. Overall, this was India's 43rd medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022, and 15th gold.
