Paris Olympics: Heartbreak for India in boxing as Amit Panghal knocked out after going down to Zambian pugilist in round of 16

India's Amit Panghal lost to Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba 1-4 in the Boxing Men's 51kg Round of 16 clash at the Paris Olympics 2024 on July 30, Tuesday. With this Panghal's campaign at the Paris Olympics ended as four out of five judges scored against the Indian boxer. 

A repeat of his 2020 Olympic heartbreak, Panghal was once again ousted in the early round with the same score. The army boxer, who had clinched silver at the 2019 World Championships, failed to translate his world-class form into Olympic glory. Trailing on points, Amit intensified his attack, triggering a flurry of punches from both fighters. Despite the increased aggression, the judges unanimously awarded the third round to Chinyemba, who secured a split decision victory, winning by a 4-1 on the judges' scorecard.

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Close second round

Entering into the third round, Phangal was already behind by two rounds but it seemed that Phangal was doing much better in the second round and was outplaying his opponent but it three out of five judges thought differently. This was similar to the first round when the Phangal lost on three of the five judges' scorecards. If the second round would have gone in Phangal's favor, there is a big chance he would have entered the final round with much more confidence and potentially performed much better in the final round.

Phangal unleashed all cylinders looking for a finish in order to invalidate the judges' scoring but Patrick was able to withstand the fury of Phangal in final few minutes. Patrick was clearly enjoying more reach in comparison to the Indian boxer. Throughout the match, he had a wider stance and was moving back. He was able to keep the fight at distance, Amit did get in to cur in the reach and distance but turned out it was not enough to win him the match.

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