Two major decisions became the subject of debate in the boxing event of the 36th National Games here. One is the headgear and the other one is on referee’s decision. In spite of getting the green signal from AIBA regarding headgear, it was made optional here.
Boxing’s international body AIBA has given green signal to the use of head-gears due to increased number of head injuries in the recent past. Headgear was worn only in the first bout and it was not mandatory here. In the first bout of the day, Ankit of Haryana and Sai Kumar of SSCB wore headgear. In this way history was created because after Rio Olympics headgear has not been used in any of the men’s tournaments. Here after the first bout no one wore headgear in any of the next bouts. The decision which the organizers took became a subject of ridicule because the use of headgear was not mandatory here as directed by AIBA.
The second controversy was seen in the men’s flyweight category when referee took decision of RSC (Referee stop contest) in a bout between Ajay Pendor of Maharashtra and Javed of Uttar Pradesh, when Javed’s upper part of the eye started bleeding.
The rule states that atleast four minutes should be spent on this issue. If the bleeding does not stop, the affected boxer may be taken out due to injury but in such cases the referee has no right to declare RSC.
It is a good sign that after weightlifting many prominent boxers are taking part in these games. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain, World Championship medalists Simranjit Kaur, Jamuna Boro, Sweety Bura and former World Youth Champion Anushita Boro are also taking part. In the men’s category, Shiva Thapa, CWG medalist Hasamuddin, World Youth Champion Sachin Siwach, Asian Champion Sanjeet and Thailand Open Champions are the main attraction of this event. On the first day of this competition, Olympic medalist Lovlina won her bout against Nishi Bhardwaj of Bihar and big bout star Mohammad Hasamuddin defeated Satish from Uttar Pradesh convincingly.