Lovlina Borgohain puts off turning pro, will 'fight' for LA Games first

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain is set to return to competition at Uttarakhand’s National Games after her Paris Games' setback. She aims to focus on the LA Games 2028 before considering turning professional. Lovlina plans to compete in the Asian Championships, World Cup Finals, and the 2026 Asian Games.
Lovlina Borgohain puts off turning pro, will 'fight' for LA Games first
Lovlina Borgohain
NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain will return to the competitive arena for the first time since her Paris Games’ disappointment at the National Games in Uttarakhand.
The 38th edition of the Games is expected to provide a reckoner for the boxer, who was also considering turning pro liker her Paris teammate, Nishant Dev, but still finds the lure of the LA Games in 2028 a highly attractive prospect. “It is my dream to turn pro, but I want to give LA one more shot first,” she told TOI.
In Paris, the 27-year-old pugilist from Assam’s Golaghat district was considered a medal prospect but lost to eventual champion, China’s Li Qian 4:1 in the quarterfinals of the women’s 75kg category.
“I have resumed my training regimen. It has been one month since I commenced practising properly. I am in good shape and wished to begin the new season by competing at the National Games. This will provide me with a thorough assessment of my preparatory status. Subsequently, I will be competing at the Asian Championships and World Cup Finals in India later this year. Then, winning a medal at the Asian Games in 2026 is the next target,” she said.
Lovlina enumerated several factors contributing to her defeat in the Olympics – ranging from insufficient preparation due to absence of beneficial exposure trips to dearth of sparring partners and unsuitable and authoritative coaching methodology of foreign coaches.
“We qualified for the Olympics well in advance and there was a necessity to devise a comprehensive strategy regarding our approach to the Games. The boxers opted to train in India when we ought to have ventured abroad to train with the world’s finest boxers. There were inadequate exposure trips. The Chinese competitor whom I lost to in the quarters participated in at least 10-12 competitions prior to the Games. Whereas I managed to compete in only one competition following the Hangzhou Asian Games,” Lovlina said.
The three-time world championships medallist attributed partial responsibility to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for inadequate implementation of the Paris Olympics programme, leaving the participating pugilists underprepared.
“Procuring suitable sparring partners in India is a substantial challenge. We trained with male boxers who weren’t exerting their full potential inside the ring because they were sparring with a female boxer. Additionally, the foreign coaches posed significant difficulties. They implemented their own coaching methodologies which were incompatible with Indian style of boxing. They maintained strained relations with Indian coaches, and we struggled to adapt to their coaching approach. Foreign coaches introduced evaluation test protocols in the camps which proved counterproductive,” she added.
Lovlina said that after the Paris Games she invested her energy into regrouping herself. She delved into spirituality while realising her plan of establishing her own boxing academy in Assam.
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