Abhinash Jamwal emerges from Shiva Thapa’s shadow after silver at Boxing World Cup

On his flight back from the Boxing World Cup in Brazil, Abhinash Jamwal was still thinking about his final against local boy Yuri Reis. Jamwal lost 0-5 to Yuri but clinched his first-ever International medal in the 65 kg category at the first-ever event of the newly recognized World Boxing.
“I was thinking about the loss in my flight but playing in my second tournament, I take the result as a sign of a good start to my senior career,” Abhinash told The Indian Express. The 22-year-old boxer from Mandi, Himachal has started to emerge from the shadow of former World Championship bronze medall Shiva Thapa.
Playing in the same category in the 2024 Paris Olympics cycle as Thapa, Abhinash has been around the National camp since 2022 after winning his second nationals medal. “My breakthrough year in the senior circuit was when I clinched bronze in the 2021 Nationals. After that I kept winning medals with the 67 kg gold in 2022 and the latest one at the 2024 Nationals where I defeated Shiva bhai in the semi-finals,” Abhinash said.”I was a part of the national camp and sparred with him constantly. After our sessions and bouts, he would tell me what makes I am making. I have learnt a lot from him during the camps,” he added further.
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Standing at 6 feet, Abhinash usually has the height advantage in the Welterweight or Light Welterweight categories. “My natural weight remains around 68 kg and I have to cut weight during tournaments. The biggest advantage I have is my height and the movement in the ring. I have built my game around it. I move in the ring keeping away from the opponent’s punches and hit back whenever I have an opening,” Abhinash explained.
When asked what his biggest learning from the loss against Yuri in the final was, Abhinash said, “I think my reactions need to be better while coming up against an opponent like Yuri, who likes to attack. Another thing I felt was that I was unable to counter punch when cornered. So, I need to improve on that. I will start working on these issues with my coaches as soon as I am back in the country,” said the 22-year-old.
Abhinash credited the camp in Brazil before the World Cup as one of the reasons behind his medal winning show at the tournament. “We had a 10-day camp back in India and then spent 10 days here in Brazil before the tournament. After the National Games, it was important to have a training camp. The camp in Brazil before the tournament was exciting as I trained with international boxers and saw how the different countries train. I could see what techniques they use and how they are good at the International level. It also helped us in getting adjusted to the conditions here.”
Like many other Indian boxers, Abhinash grew up idolizing Olympic bronze medal Vijender Singh and double Olympian Vikas Krishan Yadav. “The first-time I came to know about boxing was when I watched it on TV during the 2012 London Olympics. The likes of Vijender bhai and Vikas bhai captivated my imagination. For a young kid like me, it was love at first sight,” recalled Abhinash.Story continues below this ad
“After I showed interest in the sport, my family decided to put me into training. My maternal uncle Rajesh supported me and pushed me to do the sport,” Abhinash said.
It was not easy to start as Mandi barely had facilities to train for boxing. “There was nothing in Himachal for boxing. It is when I moved to Chandigarh for studies and started living with my maternal grandparents, that I started training. In 2013, I started training under Joginder Kumar who would train us in a park. There wasn’t a ring but we used to spar on the ground and practice punches with pads,” said Abhinash.
After realizing that he won’t go far practicing in the public parks, Abhinash appeared in the trials for the SAI center in Sangrur in 2016 and was selected to train there. “After I started training at SAI, I won my first-ever medal in 2018 at the Junior Nationals winning the silver medal. From there, it has been a steady climb for me to the International level.”
With his first International medal under his belt now, Abhinash aims to represent India at the multi-sporting tournaments. “It has been a good start and I am really looking forward to this year and the next year where we have events like the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. Thanks to this medal, I feel more confident to represent India at the top level,” he concluded.