For the first time ever, the Indian men’s boxers have secured three medals in one edition of the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Hussamuddin (57kg), and Nishant Dev (71kg) made history on Wednesday by reaching the semi-finals at the ongoing IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Read: Men’s Boxing World C’ships: Deepak, Hussamuddin, Nishant assure India of three medals
After an impressive outing for the women in this year’s World Championships at home where Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) all returned with gold medals, it was the men’s turn to impress.
With results lacking in major tournaments off-late, CA Kuttappa’s squad needed a good showing in Tashkent and with three confirmed medalists, they can heave a sigh of relief. Now, it’s up to them to turn them into an impressive colour.
Here’s a look at the three medallists for India at the World Championships:
Deepak Bhoria (51kg)
Date of Birth: 09/06/1997
Hometown: Hisar, Haryana
Stance: Orthodox
Deepak started boxing as an 11-year-old. Just a year later, due to dire financial constraints, young Deepak was forced to quit boxing as he couldn’t afford the expensive diet and training. His dreams of becoming a boxer were almost over, but his coach, Rajesh Sheoran helped him back into the ring by paying his diet and training expenses.
In 2011, when everything seemed to move smoothly, Deepak suffered a career-threatening fracture to his right hand. The fracture continued to trouble him for almost two years before he underwent surgery. In that phase, while he was unable to move his right hand, he slowly strengthened his left hand which he says helped him a lot now as he is equally adept at fighting with both hands.
It was only in 2016 that there appeared a silver lining for him as he joined Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore, and later that year, he also was selected by the Army Sports Institute, Pune. Since then, he has never looked back. His financial crisis was taken care of and his career saw an upswing. Deepak won a gold medal at 2018 Senior National Championship and in 2019 he won a gold medal at the Makran Cup on international debut.
Deepak carried that confidence into the 2019 Asian Boxing Championships and stormed into the final, where he won silver in a tight match that went in favour of Nodirjon Mirzakhmedov of Uzbekistan 3-2.
He announced himself on the global stage in 2021 when he defeated the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallist and 2019 World Champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan at the Strandja Memorial tournament. 2022 was a tough year for Deepak as he sustained an injury in his right shoulder in January and almost spent the whole year on the sidelines because of that.
He trumped the experienced Amit Panghal in the selections and shouldered India’s hopes in 51kg Flyweight category in the World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan with a confirmed medal. He first stunned Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2021 World Champion Saken Bibossinov to reach the pre-quarterfinals. In the pre-quarterfinals, playing against Jiamao Zhang of China in the pre-quarterfinal, Deepak controlled the bout right from the start and ended up winning it by a 5-0 unanimous decision.
In the quarter-finals, Deepak defeated Diushebaev Nurzhigit of Kyrgyzstan by a 5-0 unanimous decision to storm into semis.
Achievements:
2023 - Gold at National Championships, Hisar
2021 - Gold at National Championships, Bellary
2021 - Silver at Strandja Memorial, Bulgaria
2019 - Silver at Thailand Open
2019 - Asian Boxing Championships, Bangkok: Silver
2019 - Makran Cup, Iran: Gold
2018 - Senior National Boxing Championships: Gold2023 - IBA Men’s Boxing World Championships: TBD*
Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg)
Date of Birth: 12/04/1994
Hometown: Nizamabad, Telangana
Stance: Southpaw
Hailing from a family of boxers, Mohammed Hussamuddin is the youngest of six brothers, four of whom are seriously entrenched in the sport. Hussamuddin, whose role model is two-time Olympic Champion Vasyl Lomachenko, was afraid to don the gloves until his father and coach, Mohammad Shamsuddin, got him to shed that fear and taught him the art of boxing at the Collectorate grounds in Nizamabad, north Telangana.
The 29-year-old went on to outshine his siblings and established himself in the state-level competitions before moving on to the national scene, making his debut in the 2009 junior Nationals at Aurangabad, claiming bronze. He turned it into gold in his debut at the senior nationals.
The boxer’s potential was spotted early and in 2011, he was sent to Havana, Cuba on a fortnight-long stint of training and competition before participating in the 2012 Tammer Tournament in Finland and later in the Youth World Championship in Yerevan, Armenia.
With a bronze at the 2015 Military World Games, he started making a mark at the international stage. Since then, he has evolved into one of the finest boxers in the country in his weight category.
With a bronze in Commonwealth Games 2018 and a gold in the Chemistry Cup, Hussamuddin continued to shine and bag silver at the Gee Bee Boxing Tournament in 2019. He won silver at the Boxam International in March 2021 and finished 2022 with bronze medal at CWG in Birmingham and Asian Championships.
One of the most experienced and consistent campaigners in the squad, Hussamuddin made it count in his debut at the World Championships by assuring India of a medal.
Facing China’s Lyu Ping in the Round of 32 contest, Hussamuddin won 5-0. In the pre-quarters, Hussamuddin faced Russia’s Savvin Eduard and registered a 5-0 win. In the quarter-finals, Hussamuddin beat J. Diaz Ibanez of Bulgaria by a 4-3 split decision to confirm another medal for India at the ongoing tournament.
Achievements:
2023 - Gold at Senior Nationals, Hisar
2022 - Bronze at Asian Championships, Jordan
2022 - Bronze at Commonwealth Games, Birmingham
2021 - Silver at National Championships
2021 - Silver at Boxam International, Spain
2020 - Bronze at Cologne World Cup
2019 - Gold at Senior National, Baddi, HP
2019 - Silver at Thailand Open
2019 - 38th Gee Bee Boxing Tournament, Helsinki, Finland: Silver
2018 - Asian Games, Jakarta: Participated
2018 - Chemistry Cup; Halle: Gold
2018 - Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast: Bronze
2018 - 69th Strandja Memorial Tournament; Bulgaria: Bronze
2018 - India International Open Boxing Championship; New Delhi: Bronze
2017 - Ulaanbaatar Cup (Ulaanbaatar, MGL): Bronze
2017 - 68th Strandja Memorial Tournament; Bulgaria: Silver
2016 - Senior Nationals, Guwahati: Gold
2015 - Military World Games in South Korea: Bronze
2012 - World Youth Championships (Yerevan, ARM): Participant
2011 - Youth Nationals at Kakinada: Silver
2009 - Junior Nationals: Bronze2023 - IBA Men’s Boxing World Championships: TBD*
Nishant Dev (71kg)
Date of Birth: 23/12/2000
Hometown: Karnal, Haryana
Stance: Southpaw
Nishant Dev became one to watch out for when he reached the quarter-finals of the Elite World Boxing Championship in 2021 in his debut international tournament.
Hailing from Haryana’s Karnal district, Nishant started boxing in 2012, after getting inspired by his uncle who was a professional boxer. He used to train at Karan stadium under coach Surender Chauhan.
Representing Karnataka, he had lost in the quarter-final at his first Senior National Championships in Baddi in 2019, but impressed the then high-performance director of Indian boxing Santiago Nieva and joined the Indian camp to learn from the best in the business.
In 2021, he impressed everyone by grabbing the gold medal at the National Championships and went on to represent India at the World Championships with no prior experience of competing at the international junior or youth level . He defeated Hungary’s nine-time National Champion Laszlo Kozak in the first round before outclassing two time Olympian Merven Clair of Mauritius in the second round. High on confidence after defeating two big names, he went on to win against Mexico’s Marco Alvarez Verde before bowing out in the quarter-finals.
In 2022, an old injury came back to haunt him at the beginning of 2022 and he underwent surgery in March and was in rehab for most of the year. During his rehabilitation period, he worked on his strength, power and conditioning. Despite limited training, he came back strongly to retain his title at the National Boxing Championships in Hisar in January 2023.
Fitter, stronger and wiser, Nishant, who is a fan of Floyd Mayweather, became one of the medal winners at his second World Championships. He first impressed by defeating 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan in 71kg with a 5-0 victory. In the pre-quarterfinals, he defeated South Korea’s Lee Sangmin to secure a unanimous 5-0 win. In the quarter-finals, Nishant Dev beat Jorge Cuellar Of Cuba by a 5-0 unanimous decision.
Achievements:
2023 – Gold medal at 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship
2021- Quarter-Final Finish at World Championships, Serbia
2021 - Gold medal at 5th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship
2019 - Gold medal at Grand Slam Asian boxing Championship
2019 - Silver medal at 4th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship
2019 - Gold medal at 2nd Khelo India Youth Games2023 - IBA Men’s Boxing World Championships: TBD*
Athletes information as provided by Boxing Federation of India