Kitchen Cabniets

India have only ever won three Olympic medals in boxing. Two of them are household names and you know them well - Mary Kom and Vijender Singh. The other really isn't, she's not one for the limelight and she doesn't really want attention.

Given her list of accomplishments, though, she really should be: Olympic medalist in 2021, World champion in 2023, Asian Games silver medalist in 2023. That's an elite track record but Lovlina Borgohain has never chased the spotlight.

"My focus is not to become a star or that people recognise me or run after me," she once told Times of India.

However, winning a medal in Paris will make her greatest boxer in Indian history, and then she may not have much of a say about it. At the Roland Garros boxing arena, the spotlight beckons for one of the nation's most underrated champions.

****

Lovlina's always been soft-spoken. Her way of functioning has always been this -- keep her head down, focus on training, take care of family.

"Ever since we have met, she has always been a sharmeeli [shy] and shaant [calm] type. She is pretty much the same now too," says former coach Sandhya Gurung. "When we began working together [when Lovlina was 12], I felt there was scope to improve technically, but based on her height and character, I knew she was meant for bigger things."

"She is a very cool boxer," says former national coach Bhaskar Bhatt. "That's the most important point. She doesn't usually roam around and do masti [having fun].She isn't too interested in all of that...she is a family-oriented boxer and dharmic [dutiful]. That's helped her become mentally strong."

"Even in training, she knows what to do, how much to do and what exactly needs to be done. Then she takes time out to chase individual perfection on the smallest nitty-gritties of her game. She is very focused on her game," says Bhatt.

But that doesn't mean she's oblivious to the world around her. Bhatt recalls instances when Lovlina has helped poor children on the streets or other occasions when she has "bought food for the watchmen at restaurants." He says, "she is always looking out for ways to help others and that makes her internally very strong".

In that Times of India interview, Lovlina had said, "I know one day my boxing career will come to an end, and I will leave it. I am saying it for the first time, I have not disclosed it earlier to anyone. My target is to do charity. I want to help the underprivileged after retiring from boxing. I don't want to become a politician. I'll do something away from boxing. I am earning well and want to use that money to help others."

It's a personality trait that has meant the athlete who should have been the poster-girl of Indian boxing never became that... especially since the gap (post Mary Kom) was filled with alacrity and panache by one Nikhat Zareen. In a sport that celebrates its more flamboyant characters, Nikhat was simply more standard-built for superstardom.

It didn't help, either, that year immediately after Lovlina's Olympic medal was a bad one.

****

You could say that winning an Asian Championships gold makes for a successful year, but an Olympic medal comes with expectations that far surpass that level of success. Failures at the World Championships (pre-quarters) and at the Commonwealth Games (quarters) saw her stock sink. And her troubles were further compounded by the International Boxing Association announcing that her pet category, the 69kg, would be dropped from the Paris Olympics.

Suddenly, Lovlina had a big choice to make:

Cut down to the 66kg category, which would make her among the tallest boxers in the division and give her a huge reach advantage. But the weight cuts would be extremely difficult - her normal body weight was around 71kg - and would increase the risk of injury.

Or move up to the 75kg category, where she'd begun her career. It would be an easy transition; she'd be in a healthier space since she would not have to struggle to cut weight. However, though the additional weight would give her more power in her punches, it would also impact her speed. Also, the advantage of her reach and range of punches might get nullified because it would be a more even playing field.

Lovlina chose the second option, which Bhatt says was the most sensible decision given her build, reach and long-range style of boxing. She worked with a team of strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists to gradually increase her weight. The key was to increase weight in a controlled manner and not suddenly.

Lovlina's first major test in the new weight category was the 2023 World Championships, held in New Delhi, and she passed with flying colours. 

A dominant tournament where she mixed strategies up -- attacking in the opening rounds and counterattacking to close them out -- saw her win gold that validated her decision and brought her back to where she always belonged: the top of the boxing world. That horror 2022 was already looking a distant memory.

"I'm comfortable now considering I don't have to control my weight too much. I do well because this is my natural weight," she said at the time.

Six months later, she would blitz her way to Asian Games silver, booking her ticket to Paris en-route. With a shift in weight category, 2023 announced one thing: Lovlina Borgohain was back.

 ****

Of course, the change in weight category brought about a change in her boxing style. And it's worked out well so far.

From relying on her speed and counter-attacking skills, Lovlina has transitioned into a more all-out attacking boxer.

"Earlier, she had more speed in her game. She would invite the opponent into committing a punch and fight on the counter owing to her superior reach. Now she cannot afford to hang back and wait, because all the opponents are of the same caliber. Until you attack and attempt to score, you won't win. In the 75kg category, you need to work on attacking and scoring: attack, defence, and re-attack. She has improved on that," explains Bhatt.

"We worked a lot on movement patterns such as punch, step back and dodge/block/sidestep or fake and then punch again. Going for the first punch makes an impression on the judges that you are not a defensive boxer. This is a very important thing to do as it attracts judges' attention and shows that you are an aggressive boxer and not a 'darpok' [coward]. In this category, the more you attack, the greater are your chances of winning," he says.

The slight dip in her speed has been compensated by the added sting in her punches. "The impact of the punch is more. It shows in the ring; when she strikes the opponent feels the punch," he says.

Sandhya says much the same thing. Her main advantage is her reach, that's what she plays on. She gets nervous when she plays close - she gets hit when playing close. I always tell her to focus on her game and not to play to her opponent's game."

The reach and range that Bhatt and Sandhya speak of are basically how far Lovlina can extend her punching arm. Owing to her lanky, tall physique, Lovlina has a great wingspan, which allows her to step back and attack an opponent from a distance. She will be hoping her punches pack way too much power for her opponents come August.

****

This comfort with her new weight is one of three things that lend strength to the belief that Lovlina can create history, and win a second Olympic medal: familiarity with demands of the 75kg division, the fact that she's the reigning world champion, and her knowledge of her rivals.

But who are her rivals?

Chief among them is China's Li Qian. Lovlina had comprehensively beaten Qian, a two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion, enroute to her 2023 Worlds gold but has not been able to get past her since. The Chinese boxer had defeated Lovlina in the 2023 Asian Games final and last week, at the Grand Prix in Czechia. Lovlina had also fought against (and lost) to the refugee team's Cindy Ngamba, who will also be in Paris.

Then there's Uzbekistan's Valentina Khalzova (2016 world champion and bronze in 2023) and Morocco's Khadija El-Mar (gold at 2023 World Championships in 81+kg division) -- two boxers who Lovlina saw from close quarters at the 2023 New Delhi World's. Lovlina will have to be wary of El-Mar, who is cutting down from the heavyweight division to 75kg.

Canada's Tammara Thibeault (2022 World champion, Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American champion) will be a tricky opponent, as will Australia's Caitlin Parker (silver at 2023 Worlds, bronze at 2022 Commonwealth Games). Lovlina's advantage over the latter will be the win she had in the Worlds final last year.

In fact, it was her bout against Parker that assured coach Bhatt that she would make an impact in the 75kg. That day, Lovlina took the opening round but lost the second and Bhatt, at ringside, asked Lovlina to hang back and deploy her long-range punches. But it wasn't clicking. "I told her to open her body and use the left uppercut and right jab in unison. That small change, on the spot, clicked for us," he says.

It also illustrates a point Bhatt makes about the different perspective support staff can bring to the bout. "All these factors need to come together for a major medal," he says.

And then there's the luck factor: how the draw is made, who is in your half of the draw and what your route to the knockouts looks like. Plus, of course, how your body feels on the day of the competition and how much in sync your mind and body are.

But you cannot really prepare for what's going to happen on that given day. What you can do is get yourself in the best possible shape to leave everything in the ring for those nine minutes.

That's exactly what the "shy" girl from tiny Barpathar, Assam, has done. She is ready to take on the world again, and she's ready to win again. She flies into Paris as under the radar as she had been in Tokyo (where all the focus was on the great Mary Kom).... but if all goes according to her carefully constructed plan, the spotlight will be shining long and bright on a true boxing great.