IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship | India boxers replicate best performance ever, finish with four gold medals

The reigning World champion Nikhat (50kg) defeated Nguyem Thi Tam of Vietnam to win gold for a second consecutive year at the tournament while the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) claimed her maiden Worlds gold with a 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed against Caitlin Parker of Australia.

Living up to her name, the tenacious Nikhat (50kg) oozed class in her rampant display against the two-time Asian champion Nguyen as she asserted her dominance in the bout from the word go by landing accurate punches and using her quick feet to dodge the Vietnamese’s attacks.. The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist maintained her composure throughout the bout and proved why she’s one of the best in the business with a sensational attacking display that helped her seal the win by unanimous decision.

"I am extremely delighted to become World Champion for the second time especially in a different category. Today’s bout was my toughest in the entire tournament and since this was the last match of the tournament I wanted to utilize my energy completely and leave everything in the ring. It was a rollercoaster of a bout with both of us getting warnings as well as eight counts and it was very close. My strategy in the last round was to go all out and attack and I felt very happy when my hand was lifted as the winner. This medal is for India and for everyone who have supported us throughout the tournament,” said Nikhat after her bout.

Competing in her first World Championships final, Lovlina faced a tough challenge against the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Parker but produced a world class display to come out on top in the closely contested matchup. The bout went to and fro with the Indian edging out her opponent with a 3-2 margin in the first round before the Australian coming back to prevail in the next round by 4-1. Ultimately, the 25-year-old Assam born pugilist utilized her vast experience and supreme technical ability to outpunch her opponent and add a secure her third Worlds medal.

This is the second time in history that India have won four gold medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships other occasion being in 2006 when Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny Lalremliani and Lekha K.C had won gold for the country.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Olympics medallists Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei (54kg) and Beatriz Ferreira (60kg) of Brazil also secured their second World Championships gold after registering identical victories against Colombian opponents. While the Taiwanese beat Arias Castaneda Yeni Marcela by 5-0, the Brazilian ousted Valdez Pana Angie Paola with the same scoreline.