Guwahati, Jan 5: With boxing’s future as an Olympic sport hanging in the balance, India’s star pugilist Lovlina Borgohain on Sunday asserted that “all the right moves must be made” to ensure its presence at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Boxing was not on the initial programme for the Los Angeles Olympics and a decision on its inclusion is awaited.
Lovlina is now part of the Athletes Commission of the newly formed Asian unit of World Boxing.
“It’s a huge privilege to be on this committee as India will now have a voice in decision making,” said Lovlina, pointing out that boxing’s technicalities, “especially scoring and judging” needed closer and impartial introspection.
“Till now, India was just an ordinary member with very little chance to raise a protest or point out a flaw in the system. That is going to change now since we will have seven positions in the Asian body.
“That’s a big plus for athletes who want to perform their best and win an Olympic medal,” said Lovlina, adding that “all the right moves must be made to keep boxing in the LA 2028 programme.”
Eyeing a third straight Olympic appearance in 2028 (if the sport is included in the roster) Tokyo Games bronze medallist Lovlina said she will take it one step at a time from here on.
Lovlina, who won a bronze at Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but returned empty-handed from Paris 2024, said Los Angeles was very much in her plans.
“Tokyo was during COVID times. Paris was a real learning curve. I did my best and have no regrets that I could not win a medal. For every athlete, there are lessons to be learnt and I want to be wiser leading into LA,” Lovlina told SAI Media in an interaction on the sidelines of the ASMITA Women’s Under-17 football final at the SAI campus here.
India’s versatile lawn bowler, Nayanmoni Saikia on Sunday, accompanied Lovlina. Nayanmoni is a multiple gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games and the Arjuna Awardee is a popular face in Assam.
Both Lovlina and Nayanmoni took part in the Fit India Sundays on Cycle mission and stressed on the “no drugs” campaign undertaken by the Union Sports Ministry.
Lovlina was the darling of the media on Sunday. Assam’s ‘own daughter’ will be touching 31 when Los Angeles arrives but the middleweight (75 kg) boxer is confident that she will be “stronger and more experienced” if she can convert her Paris learnings into action.
“But I am not going to rush my preparations. LA is a long way off and proper weight and injury management will be part of my core plans. Right now, I am not looking beyond the upcoming National Games in Uttarakhand and to do well for Assam is uppermost in my mind,” said Lovlina.
With at least three medals, including a gold in the 2023 world championship, Lovlina said 2025 would be a challenging year with the world championships on the cards.
“It will be a target to play the World Boxing Cup Final in India later in 2025,” she added. (PTI)
