CWG 2026: A deep dive into reasons behind India's boxing success in Glasgow & if it can be replicated

India's boxers walked out of the SEC Arena with ten medals – seven gold, three silver – obliterating the previous Commonwealth Games record of six golds set by England in 1934 and matched twice since.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will rightly celebrate. So will all ten medallists and fans.

In an edition where the majority of their strong sports, including but not limited to shooting and wrestling were dropped from the Games roster, the boxers ensured India still finished in top five of the medal tally.

While it is easy to celebrate the astounding performance of the boxing contingent, it is also important to ask, ‘How good was the field India actually beat?’

The honest answer is that it was good in patches but thin overall. Separating the genuine breakthroughs from the flattering arithmetic of a shallow draw is the only way to judge whether Glasgow was a launchpad to Los Angeles 2028 or a mirage built on a favourable bracket.

The Field problem

The truth is that the level of Commonwealth boxing has never been particularly high, as top boxing nations such as Uzbekistan, Cuba, USA, Kazakhstan, and China are absent.

On the other hand, India has clearly raised its standards in recent years, especially in women’s boxing. For context: Indian women boxers have won six world titles since the 2022 Birmingham Games.

This is five more than any other Commonwealth nation, with Australia in second place with just one title at the 2025 World Boxing Championships.

A look at the current women’s world rankings shows that only 9 boxers who competed at the Glasgow Games across the seven women’s categories were ranked in the world top 10, with five of them coming from India.

Similarly, only seven male boxers who ranked in the world top 10 have competed in Glasgow, with three from India and four from England, who topped the men's boxing event.

Although world rankings don’t carry huge weight in boxing, they do reflect which athletes are more active on the circuit and performing at the highest level.

Another fact to note is that a majority of the Indian boxers, who ended up winning medals did not face any World Championship medallists or Olympians during their run to the podium.

The only ones to do so were gold medal winners Arundhati Chaudhary, Jaismine Lamboria, and silver medallists Lovlina Borgohain, Narender Berwal.

Out of these, it was only Arundhati who had a standout showing in Glasgow, beating Rosie Eccles, who is an Olympian, and Chantelle Reid (Olympian and world championship medallist) in back-to-back bouts in the semis and finals respectively to win gold.

Jaismine's Olympian opponent in the final, Michaela Walsh, was a four-time CWG medallist and a legitimate veteran with a decade of continental pedigree.

Lovlina, an Olympic medallist herself, folded in the final against world championship medallist Emma Sue Greentree in what was her only real fight of the competition after receiving a bye directly into the medal rounds.

Narender, meanwhile, beat 2021 world championship medallist Nigel Paul in the semis, before being taken down by a lower ranked Damar Thomas in the gold medal bout.

Among the other medallists, Preeti Pawar, Priya Ghanghas, Sachin Siwach, Ankush Panghal, Sakshi Chaudhary, and Jadumani Singh had an even easier route.

Sakshi did face a stiff challenge in the domestic trials to make the team, edging out the likes of Nikhat Zareen and Meenakshi Hooda, while Ankush held in own in an experienced field in Glasgow.

Can the performance be replicated at bigger events?

Replicating this level of success at the upcoming 2026 Asian Games will be a far tougher challenge, with boxing powerhouses such as China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan expected to dominate the fray.

Boxing Federation of India (BFI) President Ajay Singh also highlighted this gap in competitive field and admitted in a media interaction that India is unlikely to achieve the same level of success at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

"This performance can't be replicated at the Asian Games," said Singh.

"The Asian Games for us is like the Olympics. The best teams in the world today are Asian teams. If you win a large number of medals at the Asian Games, you can also be sure you will win medals at the Olympics," he added.

Coach Santiago Neiva also echoed similar sentiments.

"There's no guarantees that we will get the gold medals in any competition," he told The Bridge. "But it shows [the performance in Glasgow] that we are on the right track.

"Also, we have not done this in a vacuum. A couple of months ago, we were at the Asian Championships, and won five gold medals there, and so on. So, this is promising for any future competition," he added.