Anjana Sasi | Reporting from Nagoya, Japan
Nagoya: When the referee raised Lovlina Borgohain’s hand inside the boxing ring in Nagoya, thousands of kilometres away in Baromukhia village in Assam’s Golaghat district, the moment must have carried a different meaning. Lovlina had grown up in a family of three daughters, in a village where her parents were often pitied for not having a son. She has spoken before about how her mother encouraged the girls to prove those attitudes wrong and so, on a day when Lovlina finally stood on the top step of the Asian Games podium, one could imagine the emotion back home carrying a simple message:
Look… this is my girl.
Lovlina was the youngest of three daughters, born after twin sisters Licha and Lima. Money was scarce. Her father, Tiken Borgohain, took up small jobs and worked at a tea estate during difficult years to support the family. There were times when the family had to borrow money so that Lovlina could continue training. But her parents refused to let their daughters grow up believing they were less capable because they were girls. That belief would become important later. Lovlina’s first introduction to Muhammad Ali came through a newspaper clipping shown to her by her father when she was in Class 5. She did not move directly into boxing. She first trained in Muay Thai and other combat sports before boxing coach Padum Boro noticed her potential during Sports Authority of India trials in 2012. That was the beginning of a journey from Baromukhia to Guwahati, and eventually to the biggest stages in world boxing. The journey was never comfortable.
Lovlina came from a family that had to count every expense. Training meant travel, equipment and food that were not always easy to afford. Her progress was built on persistence as much as talent. Then came Tokyo. Her bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics announced her arrival on the global stage and made her one of Indian boxing’s most recognisable names. She later won the 2023 World Championship title and silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games. In 2026, she also won Commonwealth Games silver. But Asian Games gold remained missing. Until Nagoya.
On her 29th birthday, Lovlina defeated China’s Ziyi Bao by unanimous 5-0 decision in the women’s 75kg final to win her first Asian Games gold. It was not merely another medal. It was the colour she had been chasing. From Olympic bronze to Asian Games silver, and now Asian Games gold, Lovlina added another chapter to a career built through pressure, expectation and repeated reinvention. The victory also placed her alongside Mary Kom as only the second Indian woman boxer to win an Asian Games gold medal. Yet the most powerful part of Lovlina’s story may still lie far from the medal podium. It lies in Baromukhia.
In a family that raised three daughters in a place where people once questioned the absence of a son. In a mother who told them to prove the critics wrong and in a girl who kept moving forward until the village that once pitied her family had reason to celebrate one of its daughters.
There are still bigger stages ahead.Los Angeles 2028 remains part of the journey, and qualification will have to be earned through the road ahead. But for now, Nagoya belongs to Lovlina. The girl who once looked at a newspaper clipping of Muhammad Ali has now written another chapter of her own. And somewhere back home in Assam, the message no longer needs explanation:
Also Read: Three From the Bow, One From the Range: India’s Golden Day in Nagoya
Look… this is my girl.
Disclosure: Anjana Sasi’s travel for TheNews21’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games coverage has been supported by a private well-wisher who has requested anonymity. The supporter has no role in TheNews21’s editorial decisions, reporting or coverage.
