Indian boxers Deepak Bhoria (51 kg) and Nishant Dev (71 kg) notched dominating wins to cruise to the quarterfinals of the men’s World Championships here on Tuesday. Continuing his good run in the tournament, Deepak brushed aside China’s Zhangh Jiamao by a 5-0 unanimous verdict in the 51kg round of 16 bout.
Nishant, on the other hand, hardly broke a sweat as he registered a first-round RSC (referee stops the contest) win against Palestine’s Foqahaa Nidal in his 71 kg last 16 contest. Such was Nishant’s dominance that he spent less than two minutes in the ring before being declared the winner. The Indian southpaw resorted to body blows before striking Nidal with a powerful right hook that compelled the referee to give the Palestinian his first standing count. A few seconds later, Nishant unleashed a combination of left-right-left hooks as Nidal fell on the canvas, forcing the referee to give him his second count before stopping the contest.
Competing in the 51 kg Olympic category, Deepak put up a brilliant display once again. While the first round was neck and neck, with both boxers exchanging blows, the 25-year-old Indian managed to take a slender 3-2 lead. The Haryana boxer ramped up the tempo in the next six minutes. Deepak used his nimble foot to move around the ring, landing a combination of punches while also ducking away from his opponent’s attacks rather effortlessly.
On Sunday, Deepak pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he upstaged Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and 2021 world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan. Deepak was selected ahead of World Championship silver medalist Amit Panghal, and the 25-year-old has put up impressive performances in all three bouts he has played so far. Later in the day, Sachin Siwach (54kg) and Akash Sangwan (67 kg) will be in action in their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts.