Tashkent on Tuesday, Indian boxers Deepak Bhoria (51 kg) and Nishant Dev (71 kg) put on commanding performances to easily advance to the quarterfinals of the men’s World Championships. In the 51 kg round of 16, Deepak defeated China’s Zhangh Jiamao by a 5-0 unanimous decision, continuing his winning streak in the competition. In contrast, Nishant barely sweated as he defeated Foqahaa Nidal of Palestine in the first round of his 71 kg last 16 matches via RSC (referee stops the match). The two and Mohammed Hussamuddin (57 kg), who will compete against Bulgaria’s J. Diaz Ibanez in the quarterfinals, are one victory away from winning gold.
Due to Nishant’s dominance, he crowned the winner in less than a minute in the ring.
Before landing a devastating right hook on Nidal, the Indian southpaw used body shots to force the referee to award the Palestinian his first standing count.
A few seconds later, when Nidal was on the ground, Nishant unloaded a series of left-right-left hooks, causing the referee to give him a second count before calling time on the fight.
In the quarterfinals, Nishant will take on Jorge Cuellar of Cuba.
Deepak competed in the 51kg Olympic division and once again put on an outstanding performance.
Even though the opening round was close with both boxers trading blows, the 25-year-old Indian was able to win it 3-2.
At the beginning of the second round, he entered the defensive position and used his counterattacking style to land some powerful left hooks on his opponent.
The final three minutes saw the Haryana boxer quicken the pace. He maneuvered around the ring with his quick foot, landing a series of punches and deftly dodging his opponent’s blows.
“I aimed to employ my left hook, which is the strongest weapon I have in the fight, and the strategy worked well.
After winning, Deepak said, “I aimed to seize the momentum early in the fight and bait my opponent before landing some precise strikes.
In one of the biggest upsets of the competition on Sunday, Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is the current world champion, defeated by Deepak.
The 25-year-old Deepak was chosen ahead of World Championship silver medalist Amit Panghal and has so far put on great displays in all three of his matches.
He will now face Diushebaev Nurzhigit of Kyrgyzstan in his next match, trying to secure a medal for India.
Akash and Sachin give up
However, the campaigns of Sachin Siwach (54 kg) and Akash Sangwan (67 kg) were unsuccessful.
Both boxers lost against Kazakh fighters by a score of 5-0. While Akash was eliminated by Dulat Bekbauov, Sachin was eliminated by top seed Makhmud Sabyrkhan.
Akash got out to a sluggish start and improved with each round, but ultimately it wasn’t enough for the judges to rule in his favor.
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