After registering their names in the annals of Indian boxing history on Wednesday, Deepak Bhoria, Mohammad Hussamuddin and Nishant Dev — already assured of a bronze medal each — will look to change the colour of their medal at the ongoing IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Friday.
The trio is now eyeing a spot in the finals. Besides Amit Panghal (at 2019 Worlds), no other Indian male boxer has won a silver medal at the World championships.
Just two years back, no Indian male boxer could cross the quarterfinal stage at the Tokyo Olympics. Since October last year, a lot of changes have been made in the coaching personnel attached to both the men’s and women’s national boxing ecosystem.
The high-profile Bernard Dunne, who had a flourishing five-year stint with Irish boxing from 2017-2022, was roped in last October. Joining Dunne in his team was Dmitry Dmitruk, a former Russian boxing professional, as the chief foreign coach. CA Kuttappa re -turned as the head coach of the nation -al men’s boxing team.
Dunne made some hard decisions, which led to Deepak replacing Panghal as India’s representative in the 51kg weight division for the Tashkent world championships.
Deepak has been in tremendous form in the last two years. Besides, he scored nearly 50 points more than Panghal according to the new “evaluation process” put in place by Dunne. On Friday, Deepak stands the best chance of reaching the finals among the three Indians. Against him stands two-time bronze medallist at the world championships, Billal Bennama of France.
The 5 ft 9-inch-tall Frenchman will have the height advantage over Deepak, but the Indian is technically the superior boxer. Deepak’s left hook helped him create the biggest upset of the event when he upstaged Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan in the second round. If Deepak manages to reach the final, he won’t have to go through the evaluation process for the upcoming Asian Games and will be India’s representative at the marquee event in the 51kg category.
It will also mean curtains for Panghal and his Asiad dreams. Hussamudin, a native of Nizama -bad just like women’s world champion Nikhat Zareen, had to wait long for his opportunity to compete at the world championships, but the wait has surely borne fruit for him. The 29-year-old has medalled in the 57kg category on his debut campaign.
The trio is now eyeing a spot in the finals. Besides Amit Panghal (at 2019 Worlds), no other Indian male boxer has won a silver medal at the World championships.
Just two years back, no Indian male boxer could cross the quarterfinal stage at the Tokyo Olympics. Since October last year, a lot of changes have been made in the coaching personnel attached to both the men’s and women’s national boxing ecosystem.
The high-profile Bernard Dunne, who had a flourishing five-year stint with Irish boxing from 2017-2022, was roped in last October. Joining Dunne in his team was Dmitry Dmitruk, a former Russian boxing professional, as the chief foreign coach. CA Kuttappa re -turned as the head coach of the nation -al men’s boxing team.
Dunne made some hard decisions, which led to Deepak replacing Panghal as India’s representative in the 51kg weight division for the Tashkent world championships.
Deepak has been in tremendous form in the last two years. Besides, he scored nearly 50 points more than Panghal according to the new “evaluation process” put in place by Dunne. On Friday, Deepak stands the best chance of reaching the finals among the three Indians. Against him stands two-time bronze medallist at the world championships, Billal Bennama of France.
The 5 ft 9-inch-tall Frenchman will have the height advantage over Deepak, but the Indian is technically the superior boxer. Deepak’s left hook helped him create the biggest upset of the event when he upstaged Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan in the second round. If Deepak manages to reach the final, he won’t have to go through the evaluation process for the upcoming Asian Games and will be India’s representative at the marquee event in the 51kg category.
It will also mean curtains for Panghal and his Asiad dreams. Hussamudin, a native of Nizama -bad just like women’s world champion Nikhat Zareen, had to wait long for his opportunity to compete at the world championships, but the wait has surely borne fruit for him. The 29-year-old has medalled in the 57kg category on his debut campaign.
The two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will look to get the better of Cuba’s Saidel Horta. A medal eluded Nishant at the 2021 World championship when he lost in the quarterfinals. Another Indian boxer, who is technically sound, Nishant will be up against 2022 Asian champion and 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan in the 71kg semis.
