IBA Men's World Boxing Championships 2023 Review: Nishant, Deepak, and Hussamuddin create history; Shiva disappoints again

Indian Pugilists scripted the best finish in the Boxing Championships.

This is by far the best performance by the Indian boxers who defeated many popular names en route to the medal and the cherry on the cake is that all the medals won were in the Olympic weight categories. The Men's World Boxing Championship was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and India concluded its campaign by winning three bronze medals. This was the first time in World Championships, India has won three medals in a single edition.

India’s performance at IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023

Govind Kumar Sahani (48 KG)

Govind started his campaign on a bright note by defeating Mehron Shafiev of Tajikistan 5-0 in R32 but lost to 2021 World Championship Bronze medalist and 2022 European Champion Sakhil Alakhverdovi 0-5 in R16. He was of no match to Sakhil in the pre quarter-finals.

Deepak Bhoria (51 KG)

Coming in place of 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2018 Asian Games winner and 2019 Asian Champion Amit Panghal, Deepak had a huge expectation to deliver. He didn’t fail to impress. Deepak, 25, from Haryana won the bronze medal by defeating Nurzhigit Diushebav of Kyrgyzstan 5-0 in the QF. He also defeated the 2021 World Champion and Tokyo Bronze Medalist Saken Bibossinov of Kazakistan in a split decision (5-2). Overall Deepak did well in all his bouts. However, he lost a close Semifinal bout against 2019 and 2021 Bronze Medalist Billai Bennama (4-3). Despite giving a eight head count to Billai in the final round, Deepak lost the bout.

Sachin Siwach (54 KG)

Sachin also started his campaign on a bright note by defeating Serghei Novac of Moldova 5-0 but lost to 2021 World Silver Medalist Makhmud Sabyrkhan 0-5 in R16. The 2021 World Youth Champion was no match for Makhmud Sabyrkhan.

Mohammad Hussamuddin (57 KG)

Two-time CWG bronze medalist Hussamuddin won the second medal for India after defeating Javier Ibanez of Bulgaria 4-3 in the quarter-finals. .However, due to an unfortunate injury, Hussamuddin had to withdraw from the semi-final thus settling for the bronze medal. Even though he had to settle for bronze due to an injury he impressed many with his performance.

Varinder Singh (60 KG)

Varinder lost in the first round after going down to home favourite Mujibillo Tursunov 0-5. The 24 year old from Patiala had to shift to 60 KG because of injury, but since changing his weight category he has done well by winning the bronze medal in the Asian Championships in 2021.

Shiva Thapa (63.5 KG)

2015 World Championship bronze medalist, failed to impress as he went down to Brazil's Yuri Reis in a close encounter 3-4 in the pre quarter-finals. He received a bye in the opening round (R32). The second seed started slow in the first round trailing (1-4) but made a good come back in the second round to neutralize the score. He couldn't keep the intensity in the final round thereby losing by a close margin 3-4.

Akash Sangwan (67 KG)

Akash started his campaign on a winning note as he defeated China’s Fu Mingke comfortably (5-0) in R32. However, he lost to Dulat Bekbauov of Kazakistan 0-5 in R16. Akash who came into the circuit in 2019 did well in national championships defeating many big names there and got the silver medal.

Nishant Dev (71 KG)

Coming back from injury, Nishant Dev confirmed India its third boxing medal as he defeated Jorge Cuellar of Cuba in a one-sided match (5-0) in the QF. This is the first time that an Indian boxer has defeated a Cuban Boxer. After coming close to a medal in 2021 where he lost to Vadim Musaev 1-4 in the quarter-finals, Nishant finally won his first boxing medal on the global stage. However it wasn’t that easy, as he was coming back from an injury, still, he showed great determination and spirit to win the bronze medal. He lost in the semi-finals to Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakistan 2-5.

Sumit Kundu (75 KG)

Sumit lost in the opening round 1-3 to Pavel Sosulin of Russia. Sumit has shown potential in his early senior days. He had shown that he can compete with the best in the world when he defeated Dzhambulat of Uzbekistan, World Silver medalist, in the Strandja Memorial. However he failed to impress in this edition of the World Championship.

Ashish Chaudhary (80 KG)

Ashish defeated Meysam of Iran in R64 4-1 but lost to 2-time Olympic champion and 2015 World Champion Arlen Lopez after giving a tough fight 2-5. Despite losing Ashish can be proud of himself as he made sure Arlen won't go without getting a fight.

Harsh Chaudhary (86 KG)

In a one-sided match, Harsh Chaudhary lost to Billy Mcallister of Australia (0-5). Harsh who was making his debut was a bit nervous in the start and couldn't overcome Billy thus losing in R32. The young boxer from Rajasthan will look to rectify his mistakes and would look to comeback stronger in the next tournament.

Naveen Kumar (92 KG)

Naveen started his campaign with a dominant win over Korea’s Jeong Jae-min as he defeated him 5-0 but then lost to 2021 World Bronze Medallist Emmanuel Reyes 0-5 in R16. Naveen was of no match to Emmanuel as he was on the back foot since the start. Emmanuel gave him no chance to make a comeback in the bout.

Narrender Berwal (92+ KG)

Narrender lost to 2021 World Youth Bronze medalist Fernando Arzola of Cuba 5-0 in R16. He did well in the R32 after winning against Muhammad Abroridinov of Tajikistan by 4-1. The 2022 Asian Bronze medalist went all-out in his R32 bout thus ensured Abroridinov never came back in the match but failed to replicate the same against Arzola.

India’s Medallist at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023

1. Deepak Bhoria – Bronze Medal (51 KG)
2. Mohammad Hussamuddin – Bronze Medal (57 KG)
3. Nishant Dev – Bronze Medal (71 KG)

IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023: Indian Pugilists who impressed the most

Deepak Bhoria

Deepak Bhoria impressed the most among the 13 Indian boxers who participated in the world championship. Many people questioned the place of Deepak Bhoria as he was selected over Amit Panghal. Deepak proved all of them wrong and showed his class by winning the bronze medal. He defeated many big names on his route to the medal.

This has now created a healthy rivalry between him and Amit for the Olympic qualification and Asian Games 2022.

Nishant Dev

Nishant came out of syllabus at the World Championships. Though he impressed in the previous editon by reaching quarter-finals, still no one expected a medal from him. Nishant showed his fearless approach which helped him succeed. Despite losing a close match against Aslanbek, Nishant put up a good show overall.

Mohammad Hussamuddin

2022 Asian Bronze medalist, Hussamuddin has a world's medal to his name. Coming from the family of boxing, Hussamuddin absolutley gave his best in this championships. However due to a leg injury which he suffered in his quarter-final bout, he couldn't compete in the semi-finals.

IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023: Indian Pugilist who disappointed the most

Shiva Thapa

Shiva, one of the most experienced names in Indian boxing fraternity, failed to impress as he lost in R32. The senior-most pugilist had so much experience in the boxing field but never fulfilled his potential. He did well in his initial days by winning the 2013 Asian Championships, but failed to replicate these performances at the Olympics and the World level.