Alongside Nikhat Zareen within the 50-kg class, Lovlina Borgohain is one other boxing star who shall be a favorite to land India a medal in boxing within the 75-kg class. A vastly skilled pugilist, the Assam-born star already has an Olympic bronze in her kitty from the 2020 Tokyo version. She additionally gained a gold medal on the Asian Championships in 2022 and a silver within the Hangzhou Asian Video games in 2023 and certified for Paris after turning into a world champion in Delhi.
Borgohain appears in prime kind heading into the Olympics, hoping to snag her second medal on the earth athletics’ grandest stage however the street forward won’t be simple for her due to high quality opposition in addition to a change in her weight class at this Olympics. Listed here are a few of her closest rivals standing in her means of a podium end.
Li Qian (CHN)
Considered one of Lovlina’s chief adversaries is the Chinese language boxer Li Qian who gained the silver within the 2020 Olympics and gold within the middleweight class within the 2023 Asian Video games in her house nation. A worrying stat for India has emerged from these two boxers’ head-to-head with Lovlina failing to get the higher of the Chinese language since defeating her on her method to a gold medal within the World Championships in 2023, at house in New Delhi. After that, Qian has had the 26-year-old’s quantity, having gained towards her within the Asian Video games and the Grand Prix in Czech Republic in 2024. However most of their bouts in latest historical past are intently matched with not a lot to separate the 2.
Cindy Ngamba (Refugee group)
One other powerful activity in entrance of Lovlina shall be to get previous Cindy Ngamba, the primary boxer ever to be included within the IOC’s refugee group. The 2 athletes have already locked horns towards one another with Ngamba developing trumps towards the Indian within the Grand Prix in Czech Republic final month. That was additionally Lovlina’s second defeat within the 75 kg class and he or she shall be cautious of locking horns towards Ngamba in Paris. The Cameroon-born athlete whose dad and mom needed to depart the nation as a result of civil unrest in 2009, shall be seeking to make historical past by profitable a gold in Paris. Ngamba is a troublesome take a look at for any boxer competing for a podium end.
Khadija El-Mar (MAR)
The Moroccan boxer who gained a gold medal within the 81+ kg class within the World Championships in Delhi in 2023, shall be chopping down on her weight class within the Paris Olympics and is ready to compete within the 75 kg class which provides one other wrinkle in Lovlina’s quest for a podium end. She secured her qualification for Paris on the Africa Boxing Qualifiers in Dakar, defeating Kenya’s Elizabeth Andiego. The now 32-year-old had beforehand competed within the 75 kg class within the 2016 Rio Olympics the place she had reached the quarterfinal. Giving delivery to her third youngster meant that the Tokyo Olympics needed to be given a miss. Standing at 6 ft, the African athlete shall be seeking to dominate her class in Paris and stands as an enormous impediment in entrance of Lovlina.