Nishant Dev Aims to Turn Olympic Boxing Bronze into Gold for India

Nishant Dev is determined to elevate India's boxing achievements from bronze to gold at the upcoming Paris Olympics. Despite the historical bronze wins by Indian boxers, Dev is confident in winning the gold. His journey began with a standout performance in 2021 and has since honed his skills and endurance.

Nishant Dev, with unwavering confidence, has set his sights on transforming India's boxing fortunes from bronze to gold at this month's Paris Olympics.

Previously, Indian boxing has celebrated the bronze medal wins of Vijender Singh (2008), MC Mary Kom (2012), and Lovlina Borgohain (2021). However, Dev is confident in his ability to surpass these milestones, aiming not only to reach the light middle-weight (71kg) final but to seize the elusive gold medal.

'My target is to change the color of the medal in boxing. Our country's boxers have won bronze medals but not gold or silver till now,' Dev shared during an interaction facilitated by JSW Sports. 'I want to convert that bronze to not silver but gold. I have the confidence that I can achieve this. I have trained well. But at the end of the day, it is up to God,' he added.

The 23-year-old boxer gained attention in 2021 when he reached the quarterfinals in his first world championship appearance. Two years later, he claimed a bronze medal at the world championships, highlighted by a unanimous-decision victory over Cuba's Jorge Cuellar in the quarterfinals.

'That was my first international medal. So that is a big achievement for me,' said Dev, crediting the victory with boosting his confidence by eradicating the fear of facing boxers from traditionally strong boxing countries like Cuba, the USA, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

'When I beat the Cuban easily in the quarterfinal, that removed the fear from my mind. I felt that if you are giving 100 percent, you can take on and beat any boxer,' he added.

The Haryana boxer, who is now a strong medal contender for the Olympics, secured his spot in the Paris Games with a dominant performance at the final qualifying event in Bangkok this May. Previously, he had narrowly missed qualifying after a heartbreaking loss to USA's Omari Jones, which identified his need to improve stamina and strategy, particularly during the third round.

(With inputs from agencies.)