Paris Olympics quota sealed: Nishant Dev, ziddi southpaw from Karnal, becomes first Indian men’s boxer to qualify for 2024 Games

Earlier this year, when 23-year-old Indian boxer Nishant Dev suffered a narrow defeat against American Omari Jones in the quarter-finals of the first World Olympic Qualifier in Italy, the 2023 World Championship bronze medallist had a long discussion with his father, Pawan Dev, after the loss. It was about setting up the plan for his training for the next two months and taking the positives from the loss.

On Friday afternoon, as the Haryana boxer sealed India’s fourth, and the men’s boxing team’s first, Paris Olympics quota with a unanimous 5:0 win over Vasile Cebotari of Moldova in the World Olympic qualifier in Thailand, the plan came together perfectly for the lanky pugilist.

“Nishant felt that he had won the bout (it was a 1:4 split decision loss) against Omari Jones, and that would have meant that the pressure of getting a Paris Olympics quota could be off his mind in March itself. But then, he was very clear that he had to make a comeback and he did that here. Bachpan se hi ziddi hai, toh quota toh aana hi tha (He is stubborn since his childhood, so the quota had to come),” Pawan shared while speaking with The Indian Express from Bangkok, Thailand.

Growing up in Karnal, Nishant’s time would be spent cycling and playing in the streets of Kot Mohalla, where he would also practice skating in their house as a kid. A school-national level skater, Nishant first saw a boxing kit with the visit of his maternal uncle Karambir Singh at his house. Singh, who took up professional boxing in Germany, would instil the love for boxing in the youngster before Nishant saw Karnal boxer Manoj Kumar becoming the 2010 Commonwealth champion. It was in 2012, that he started boxing seriously.

Punching his way to Paris. 🥊
We’re so proud of you, Nishant! 🇮🇳#CraftingVictories #KotakKarma #NishantDev ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/mkV2UOwFan

— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) May 31, 2024

Nishant’s boxing dreams took off under his coach Surendra Chauhan, who was in attendance in Bangkok on Friday. Always relatively tall for his age, Chauhan was impressed by Nishant’s quick thinking. The next five years, Nishant would hone his skills at the sub-junior and junior level with Chauhan making sure that the southpaw boxer understood the advantages of being one. “While he was not a natural boxer initially, he was someone with a sharp mind. He understood that a sharp jab is his strength and it comes handy in clinching positions too. He would also take advantage of left hook and cross when needed and it’s the same now. We also worked on his straight punches as they are effective against another southpaw as well orthodox opponent. When he shifted to IIS (Inspire Institute of Sport), and later national camps, he would always call and discuss these things,” recalls Chauhan.

While he was picked by IIS in 2017 and had been training under coach Ronald Simms, it was in 2019 that Nishant’s talent was first noticed by then-Indian foreign high-performance director Santiago Nieva. A silver medal in the nationals the same year was followed by the title in the 2021 nationals before he returned with a quarter-final finish in the 2021 World Championships in Serbia. It would see him scoring wins against Hungary’s Laszlo Kozak, two-time Olympian Merven Clair of Mauritius, and Mexico’s Marco Alvarez, before losing to Vadim Musaev in the quarter-finals.

Nishant Dev with coach Surendra Chauhan (right) and uncle Rishi after bagging the Paris Olympics quota in Thailand.

“Nishant did not medal in the 2019 nationals but his understanding of his strengths impressed me a lot. He was a little bit raw but then he had a good boxing mind. From his early days in the camp, Nishant had good control over how to use distance to his advantage in 71 Kg. He was what I call a hot puncher and we had to work on his speed and intensity. And we were able to build a very strong hook for him and the skill of utilising the long range. He had a very strong right hook and it helped him in creating a lot of angles. One bout which I remember is his quarters bout against Alvarez. Nishant had suffered a nose injury before but the way he tackled the Mexican with his long range and surprised him with even straight precise punches with speed was exemplary,” recalls Nieva, who is now the head coach with Boxing Australia.

Post the world championships, Nishant’shoulder injury would flare up again before he went for surgery in March 2022. Before he won his second national title at Hisar in January 2023, the Haryana boxer spent close to seven months recovering. “Like any other boxer he too was frustrated but then we would talk about life and other things to make him calm. Once he recovered, our focus was to make his right shoulder regain full strength. His father too would converse with him for hours to keep motivating him” says coach Chauhan.

Almost 14 months after his surgery, Nishant would win the biggest medal of his career reaching the semi-finals of the World Championships in Tashkent. His unanimous 5: 0 win against Cuba’s Jorge Cuellar in the quarter-finals came before he lost to Asian champion and eventual champion Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan on recounting of scores. He had also scored a win against 2021 world bronze medallist Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

“Nishant always had lower body strength as a natural thing. Even though he suffered from the shoulder injury, we did work on his lower body strength. And it came in handy against somebody like Cuellar, where Nishant utilised his speed. His standing jump too is very high and we keep making him practice long jump too,” says Chauhan.

Over the next two months, Nishant would be preparing for the Paris Olympics in the hope to win India’s first medal in men’s boxing since Vijender Singh in 2008.

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