AIBA releases rankings in nearly two years, Amit Panghal trumps Olympic champion Zoirov to become World No.1

NEW DELHI: In a significant development and one to make the Indian boxing proud, reigning Asian Games champion and World Championships silver-medallist, Amit Panghal, has attained the numero uno position to become the World No.1 pugilist in his 52kg category in the newest list of world rankings released by the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA), the sport's global governing body, after a long gap of almost 18 months.
The last time the AIBA had come up with a ranking list was in January 2019, that, too, for only the female pugilists, when six-time world champion, MC Mary Kom, had risen to the top of her 48kg weight division riding on her historic sixth gold at the women's World Championships, held in Delhi in November 2018. The AIBA, that time, hadn't released the list for male boxers.
"I'm very happy and it is a massive confidence booster ahead of the resumption of camp. After a long break, I'll be training in the camp and it is a great feeling to know that I'll be training as the World Number 1. I'm grateful to everyone who has played a role in my career and growth and I'll continue to train with full dedication and push the limits to achieve my goal," Panghal told TOI after becoming top-ranked boxer.
In the latest rankings, Mary Kom has been declared World No.3 with 1550 points, trailing her nemesis, North Korean Pang Chol-mi (2350 points), a gold medallist at the 2018 Delhi Worlds, and Turkey's Busenaz Cakiroglu (2000 points). Mary Kom earned 900 points for her gold at the Delhi Worlds and her bronze finish at the 2019 Ulan-Ude World Championships in Russia fetched her 650 points.
Ulan-Ude Worlds silver medallist, Manju Rani, has become the highest-ranked Indian globally at No.2 position in her 48kg weight division, accumulating a total of 1175 points (800 points for Ulan-Ude meet and 375 points for Delhi Worlds). The Haryana boxer was the lone Indian to make the final at the 2019 Worlds, a feat which also earned her a quota place for the Tokyo Games.
Rohtak-boy Amit, 24, who holds the distinction of being the most successful Indian boxer in the World Championships' history after clinching a silver at the 2019 Worlds in Yekaterinburg, Russia in September last year, is placed on top of the ranking charts in his weight division with 1300 points. Amit's fierce arch-rival, reigning Olympic and Worlds gold medallist, Zoirov Shakhobidin from Uzbekistan, has taken the second position with 1200 points, while Bulgaria's Asenov Daniel Panev is distant third with 1000 points.
There's a high importance attached to Amit's latest feat since this is the first time the AIBA has ranked the star Indian pugilist World No.1. When Amit was announced the World No.1 in February this year, it was done by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-appointed, Boxing Task Force, which has been mandated to conduct the Olympic qualifiers and the main event at the now-postponed Games next year as the AIBA is currently serving suspension for alleged financial and administrative mismanagement. Amit had secured the numero uno position ahead of the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Amman, Jordan in March, a tournament which earned him a Tokyo quota place. The same task force had seeded Amit second behind Zoirov at the 2019 Russia Worlds.
But this is the first time since January 2019 and also after the AIBA's suspension in May last year that the global governing body has come up with an official ranking chart for both the men's and women's pugilists, based on their performance in tournaments ranging from 2018-2019. The rankings announced are as of September 2020.
Amit has been one of India's most consistent boxers since 2018, winning the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games silver, Jakarta Asiad and Asian Championships gold, followed by a silver at the Worlds.
Apart from Amit, Kavinder Bisht is the other higher-ranked Indian at the World No.4 position in his 56kg division with 750 points, while both Deepak (49kg) and Manish Kaushik (64kg) are placed sixth in their respective weight categories.
For the men's category, the performance at the 2019 Worlds and last year's Asian boxing championships in Bangkok were taken into account by the AIBA. Amit earned 800 points for his Worlds silver and another 500 points for winning a gold at the Asian meet, followed by another yellow metal-finish at Europe's biggest boxing event, Strandja Memorial tournament in Bulgaria.
In the women's section, apart from Manju and Mary Kom, Lovlina Borgohain, another Worlds bronze medallist and a Tokyo qualifier, is the other higher-ranked Indian as the World No.3 in her 69kg category with 1300 points. Other women pugilists include Sonia Lather (4th) in 57kg category, Jamuna Boro (5th) in 54kg category and Simranjit Kaur (6th) in 64kg category.
For the women's section, the rankings took into account performances at the 2018 (Delhi), 2019 (Ulan-Ude) Worlds and the 2019 continental meet in Bangkok.
Men's rankings: Deepak (49kg, 6th); Amit Panghal (52kg, 1st); Kavinder Bisht (56kg, 4th); Shiva Thapa (60kg, 16th); Manish Kaushik (64kg, 6th); Ashish (69kg, 19th); Ashish Kumar (75kg, 13th); Sanjeet (91kg, 12th) and Satish Kumar (+91kg, 23rd).
Women's rankings: Manju Rani (48kg, 2nd); M C Mary Kom (51kg, 3rd), Pinki Rani (51kg, 13th) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg, 21st); Jamuna Boro (54kg, 5th) and Manisha (54kg, 13th); Sonia Lather (57kg, 4th); Sarita Devi (60kg, 25th); Simranjit Kaur (64kg, 6th); Lovlina Borgohain (69kg, 3rd); Pooja Rani (81kg, 8th).