Nikhat Zareen wins gold medal in 2023 World Boxing Championship, creates history with back-to back triumphs

Indian female boxers continue to create history in the ongoing 2023 World Boxing Championship as Nikhat Zareen beats two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam 5-0 in the 50kg category on Sunday to claim the gold medal. With this win, Zareen created history by becoming only the second Indian boxer after veteran MC Mary Kom to win the World Championship title more than once. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) won gold medals in respective finals.

Tipped to be the favourite in this bout, the defending champion didn’t let her guard down despite suffering a few blows in the first round. She, however, remained ahead with her counter and landed punches, winning crucial moments and the round by a unanimous decision.

The second round saw the Vietnamese making a strong comeback in the bout and giving a neck-to-neck competition to her Indian counterpart. Nikhat maintained her lead after the end of the second round too. During the third and final round, Zareen kept her best for the last as she didn’t give many chances to Nguyen and put her under pressure throughout to stand tall.

The back-to-back gold medal win in the Light Flyweight category helps Nikhat remain on the elite list of boxers who won gold medals in this competition in the past – including Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006), Lekha KC (2006), Nitu Ghanghas (2023) and Saweety Boora (2023).

While the 20-year-old Nitu Ghanghas defeated Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg 5-0 via unanimous decision to win her maiden gold the other night, the experienced Saweety Boora, a light heavyweight boxer, clinched her second medal, gold this time, in the 75-81 kg category against her Chinese opponent Wang Lina.

Meanwhile, it doesn’t end her as Olympic medallist, Lovlina Borgohain will take on Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Australia’s Caitlin Parker in the 75kg final later today.