Nieva targets cleaner bouts, tighter guard for Indian women at Asian Boxing Championships
Targeting cleaner bouts and a tighter defensive guard, head coach Santiago Nieva has set the tone for the Indian women’s team ahead of the Asian Championships, banking on small but crucial refinements to make a telling impact.
The Argentine-born Swede, who took charge earlier this year, has stepped into a packed 2026 calendar featuring the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. His first major assignment comes at the Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, starting on Sunday.
For Nieva, one of the primary concerns has been the tendency of women’s bouts to descend into a scrappy, wrestling-like affair.
“There is a tendency in today’s boxing, and specifically in women’s boxing, that the bouts can get a little messy, and there’s a lot of wrestling in the bouts, and we have worked a lot on how to avoid that,” he told PTI from Ulaanbaatar.
“There are ways to do it; it doesn’t just happen because it happens. For me, there are some technical aspects to it, and there is a way to deal with it; you cannot eliminate it 100 per cent, but you can definitely avoid it 80 per cent or more.” The focus has been on technical discipline.
“So we have worked plenty on that, and it looks good in sparring, and now hopefully we can see the difference in the international championships,” he said.
Nieva, who enjoyed a successful stint as India’s high-performance director from 2017 to 2022, largely with the men’s team, wants the boxers to go back to the basics, and a tighter defensive guard is another area of emphasis.
“And another aspect is also a little bit in women’s boxing, to secure the guard, the tightness of the guard, when your feet can’t save you and your upper body movement, then with a strong guard you can make a difference.
“So I would say another aspect to improve the defense with a strong guard. Sometimes it’s the simple things that make a difference,” he said.
Ahead of the tournament, the Indian boxers underwent high-altitude training and also participated in multi-nation joint sparring sessions with Mongolia, Thailand, China and Jordan.
Besides the quest for medals, the Asian Championships carry added significance, as boxers reaching the finals will secure direct berths for India at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, in line with the Boxing Federation of India selection policy.
“Obviously, our history tells us that we can win medals, so we will target several medals. But for us, it is important to have people in the final, and obviously, there aren’t many times we’ve had more than one gold medal, and a gold medal makes a difference.
“But these Asian Championships obviously will be a stronger test, we know that Asian boxing has improved the level over the last decade, many of the world’s strongest teams are in Asia, so it will be a very interesting move. We are excited to go out there, and we are confident that we can perform at this,” he added.
Published on Mar 27, 2026