Shanmugasundaramurthi, Karthikeyan AngalammanKarthikeyan AngalammanShanmugasundaramurthiBaghel, VipulVipulBaghelKirupakaran, Anish MonsleyAnish MonsleyKirupakaranWarburton, JohnJohnWarburtonSrinivasan, RamjiRamjiSrinivasanHegde, Ravi SadanandaRavi SadanandaHegdeSrinivasan, BabjiBabjiSrinivasan2025-12-102025-12-102026-06-0110.1007/s11265-025-01972-92-s2.0-105023428657http://repository.iitgn.ac.in/handle/IITG2025/33602Analyzing raw, untrimmed training videos in combat sports is challenging due to occlusion, motion clutter, and identity ambiguity. This paper presents HistoTrack++, an end-to-end framework for overhead boxing footage that addresses these challenges via automated bout segmentation, robust identity tracking, and interpretable movement analytics. The pipeline begins with a segmentation module combining a fine-tuned YOLOv8 detector with domain-driven spatial-temporal heuristics, achieving 97.6% segmentation accuracy on 40 h of sparring data from 75 athletes. For tracking, we introduce HistoTrack, a histogram-guided, identity-preserving tracker that maintains 0.95 MOTA at 23 FPS, even under heavy occlusion. Four coach-informed kinematic metrics—hotspot density, directional histograms, engage/disengage dynamics, and zone usage—provide actionable insights aligned with athlete development. Extensive evaluation against 21 existing models demonstrates that HistoTrack + + outperforms prior methods in accuracy, identity consistency, and interpretability in challenging overhead views. Although validated on boxing, the modular segmentation–tracking–analytics framework is domain-agnostic and transferable to other multi-object overhead video scenarios, including judo, wrestling, and team-sport training. With ~ 10 M parameters and real-time performance, the framework is deployable both locally and on scalable server infrastructures. HistoTrack + + thus offers a practical, scalable approach for automated video analytics in combat sports, with broader implications for tactical modeling, longitudinal performance assessment, and real-time sports video understanding.falseCombat sports analytics | Kinematic analysis | Multi-Object tracking | Overhead vision systems | Video segmentationArticle19398115June 202604WOS:001627773100001