India’s new mantra: Box from a distance
NEW DELHI: ‘Box from a distance’ seems to be the new mantra of India’s women boxers who have impressed with their tactical acumen and reaped dividends at the ongoing World Championships. The man behind the change is India’s foreign coach Raffaele Bergamasco, who has been guiding the women boxers since 2017. Raffaele has charted a strict training regimen for the girls. Besides strength conditioning, the Italian has been teaching the art of ‘stepping back and attack’.
The young boxers, be it Manisha Maun, Lovlina Borgohain or Sonia Chahal have used the strategy to successfully counter some big names of world boxing here.
The results at the Asian Games where Indian boxers failed to win a single medal saw the selection committee prefer youngsters over experienced campaigners. The second rung was therefore given opportunity at the World Championships. Five of them are playing their maiden world championships.
“The Indian boxers have a big heart but they were lacking in tactics and technical nuances. After the Asian Games there was not much time for the World Championships and our main focus was to improve the technical aspect,” said coach Raffaele.
“We have been working on a new methodology and the girls are learning fast. The strength conditioning has been going on for some time and it has helped them improve their endurance,” said Raffaele, who coached the Italian boxers guiding them to world and Olympic glory.
From running sprints to inclined running and holding bouts of six rounds of three minutes each in practice, the gruelling regimen has toughened the boxers. The changed tactical approach has sharpened their game. They are not wasting energy on just throwing punches but maintaining a safe distance and waiting for the right opportunities to strike. Manisha Maun defeated an attacking Dina Zhola- man of Kazakhstan, the world champion, using the same tactics.
Lovlina too employed the strategy against former world champion Atheyna Bylon.
Renowned coach Billy Walsh, who is here with the US team, was full of praise of Indian girls and the improvement they have shown under Raffaele.
“Credit goes to India, they have come up leaps and bounds. There is a new coaching structure under Raffaele, a good friend of mine. We worked together many times when he was in Italy and I was in Ireland (coach). I could see lot of improvement in Indian boxers. Raffaele and Santiago Nieva (high performance director) are doing a fantastic job. India have lot of talent and they are going to be one of the forces to reckon with in world boxing in years to come.”