Fearless and bold Nishant Dev eyes golden history at Paris Olympics 2024

Nishant Dev is among the medal contenders for India in boxing at Paris.

With the utmost surety, Nishant Dev looks ahead to upgrade India’s boxing performances from bronze to gold at Paris Olympics 2024. So far, three Indian boxers—Vijender Singh in 2008, MC Mary Kom in 2012 and Lovlina Borgohain in 2021—have won bronze medals.

Dev oozes of confidence not just about his reaching but conquering the light middle-weight 71kg final, targeting an elusive gold medal.

In a recent interaction with the media, he spelt out his aspiration, “My goal is to see a change in the colour of the medal in boxing. While our country has won bronze medals, gold or silver has eluded us.

“I aim to achieve what hasn’t been done before,” said the pugilist confidently. He was undeterred and replied, “I want to turn that bronze into gold, not silver. I fully believe in myself. I have trained really hard, left no stone unturned. Finally, it is all left to God.”

Also Read: A look at Nishant Dev’s qualification for Paris Olympics 2024

Nishant Dev sparkling debut in the boxing ring

Only 21 then, Dev announced his arrival in 2021 by entering the World Championships quarterfinals on debut. Two years later, inspired by great displays, barring the scintillating victory over Jorge Cuellar of Cuba in the quarterfinals, he won a bronze medal at the same event.

He reflected, “Securing my first international medal was a significant milestone for me.”

He also cited persistence as one of the factors in his quarter-final win, which boosted his confidence and completely washed out the fear of facing any boxer from traditionally strong boxing nations like Cuba, USA, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Dev’s detailed thoughts of triumph have made him believe, “Defeating the Cuban boxer comfortably in the quarter-final removed all fear from my mind. It made me realize that if I give my all, I can face and defeat any opponent.

“Now, that fear I used to get due to their background or their country is gone. No pressure: I just take them as opponents,” he asserted, underlining how his mindset has changed.

Also Read: Weight, diet, Paris Olympics: Inside the training camp of India’s boxing hopes Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev

In the last qualifiers, he had suffered a defeat against Omari Jones of the USA and missed out on qualification. Though the bout had begun well for the southpaw, going toe-to-toe with Jones in the opening two rounds, he finally lost to the American in the far end: a weakness in Dev’s identity which is his stamina.

He said, “I used to feel quite fatigued by the third round. But I have worked on it a lot since then. I worked on my stamina with some great training; devised a new strategy and even worked on my physical conditioning.”

Nishant Dev beat Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari 5-0 in the men’s 71kg quarterfinals during the World Boxing Qualifiers in Bangkok to punch his ticket to Paris. Seen as a firm medal prospect at the Paris Olympics 2024, the Haryana boxer will look to create history at the Olympics.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram