Fernandez says Panghal can win medal in Paris
Cuban boxing coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez has had a ringside association of the sport in India for around three decades. And he believes the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will be right to do away with its failed policy of evaluation-based selections and revert to trials.
Fernandez, 68, took over the role of guiding the national boxers in 1995 and has seen the highs and lows of Indians. After a break, he has been roped in as high performance coach for the National Boxing Academy (NBA) in Rohtak by the Sports Authority of India. He took over in January end on a two-year contract.
He returns with Indian boxing in a ferment with no male boxer having qualified for the Paris Olympics. In a major policy shift last year, BFI, on the inputs of its Irish High Performance Director Bernard Dunne, dropped the practice of trials and adopted a periodic evaluation system in the national camp to select the boxers for international meets.
Some boxers opposed the move as being unfair. Amit Panghal (51kg), Rohit Mor (57kg) and Sagar Ahlawat (+92kg) unsuccessfully petitioned the Punjab and Haryana High Court against it. However, the men’s squad of Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Muhammad Hussamudin (57kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg) and Narender (+92kg) could not secure a spot for Paris at the first World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy last month.
The debacle and rising criticism led to Dunne’s resignation, leaving a gaping hole in the coaching leadership group. Fernandez, 68, too criticised Dunne’s selection policy, which is still in place. Fernandez, the only foreigner to be conferred with the government’s Dronacharya Award for coaching excellence, said the evaluation method was “needless” and expressed surprise that Dunne, a former European super bantamweight champion who was appointed as the Indian boxing’s HPD in October 2022, was given a free hand.
“He took over the reins when India was among the top 15-20 nations in men’s boxing. He came in and went about changing everything, which is not the way to go. I am surprised he was allowed to do this. The policy of no selection trials looks good on paper but practically it means nothing. The No.3 boxer can become No.1 in this process,” he said.
“I hear the number of bouts also went down, which is not good. Boxing is all about responding in micro seconds and those instincts develop only inside the ring with countless repetitions. If you can’t box, what good is weight management or everything else the boxers were evaluated on?”
Last week, BFI announced the squad for the second Boxing World Qualification Tournament scheduled in Bangkok (May 25-June 3), the last chance to secure berths for Paris, with Panghal making a comeback.
Fernandez backed the 2019 Worlds silver medallist to win a medal in Paris if he qualifies. “I think Amit and Nishant Dev have the best chance to qualify. Amit is a medal contender since he is very sharp at reading opponents. He is mature and has a good all-round game. Amit and (woman’s world champion) Nikhat Zareen are what I call universal boxers. If they are in form, they can come back with a medal from Paris.”
So far, four women — Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) — have qualified for Paris.