Paris Olympics 2024: Cold and confident, Nishant Dev ready to box for gold

Nishant Dev’s crisp responses, one-worded at times, laced with a tone of indifference seem cold at first but they are fitting for the quest that he has taken upon himself.

“No pressure,” he says from Saarbrucken in Germany where India’s pugilists are making their final preparations for the Paris Olympics. Nishant will be competing in the men’s 71kg category.

The 24-year-old has been through the wringer in 2024. In March, Nishant was crestfallen, after bowing out in the quarterfinal of the 1st Boxing World Qualification Tournament to USA’s Omari Jones by a split decision. The verdict swinging in his favour would have guaranteed him a spot at the Olympics. The result going the other way meant he had to do the work all over again in three months and go one better too.

“When you look at the international boxers, there is a difference in the skill level. It does not seem apparent but when you compete with a good boxer, you find out how good they are. If you lose to one such boxer, you too start working on the skill. It’s all about beating your opponent at the end of the day,” Nishant says.

By the 2nd Boxing World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok in May, Indian boxing was desperately pinning its hopes on Nishant. No male boxer had secured a passage to the Paris Olympics, and Nishant, a bronze medallist from the 2023 World Championships, was the safest bet.

Nishant turned up the afterburners in Bangkok and blazed his way to victories in the four bouts, including an RSC (referee stops contest) in the second round match against Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar of Mongolia which lasted just two minutes, to get the elusive Paris quota. He was the first Indian male boxer to do it before being joined by Amit Panghal.

Hard times

If there is someone who is used to not having things straightforward, it is Nishant. His first glimpse of the international stage came at the Worlds in 2021 where he fell short in the quarterfinals. Little did he know that a rod fitted in his shoulder, after a fall from a staircase as a 10-year-old, would pick that opportune stage in his career to begin to rot, flare up his shoulder pain, force him to undergo another surgery, and halt his progress for almost a year.

“It was a tough phase for me. I had to miss the Commonwealth Games. Then I started the rehab process, which was seven months long. But the people supported me, my family, and my coaches at IIS [Inspire Institute of Sport], and it came in handy. They did not let my morale go down,” Nishant says.

To come back and get to the Worlds semifinals is a testament to Nishant’s character. As he gears up to call himself an Olympian, his character is once again put to the test.

The boxing weight categories raise a peculiar interest in this Olympics. With a change in weight classifications from the Olympics in Tokyo, boxers from different weight classes will be pitted together in one. Awaiting Nishant in the 71kg category, for instance, will be Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev, the reigning World champion in the welterweight category (63.5kg-67kg), as will be Aidan Walsh, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, in the same welterweight category (63kg-69kg).

The 71kg category previously fell in the middleweight class, running from 69kg to 75kg, followed by light heavy (75kg to 81kg). In Paris, the next weight category after 71kg is 80kg, meaning some of the heavier boxers can opt to cut weight and take a shot in the 71kg class.

“The reason why my weight category is tough is because 71kg was 69kg in the last Olympics. But these are non-Olympic weight categories now. So all the boxers from this category are in my weight now. Similarly, the boxers in the 75kg category in the non-Olympic events also move to 71kg. So, there’s a tough mix to compete with,” Nishant says.

Though the draws are awaited, the presence of Omari, Japan’s Sewon Okazawa, who beat Nishant in the Asian Games quarters, and Kazakhstan’s Asalbenk Shymbergenov, current World No. 1, who defeated the Indian at the Worlds semifinals in 2023, make a path to the podium agonisingly tricky.

It is here that some of Nishant’s frigid answers begin to make sense. 

“There is one from Uzbekistan. He’s pretty active when you face him. With Shymbergenov, I lost a close fight. It’s not that he’s too far ahead of me. It was close in all three rounds. I have faced these guys at other competitions. I have to face them again. So, no [pressure] so far. I want to go fight,” Nishant says, when asked about his challengers in Paris.

At 24, Nishant will complete the set; he will have competed everywhere a boxer can dream of competing. But the set is never just about competing, it is about the wins and the medals. 

“The expectation from myself is simple: win a gold at the Olympics, do what has not been done so far by any Indian. It’s to show that we’re no less than anyone,” Nishant says.

For a country with three Olympic bronze medals in boxing, a claim for the gold medal is a tall order, more so from a 24-year-old at his first Summer Games. But if he does not believe in himself, then who will?

For the raised eyebrows and the ‘really?’ retorts to his ambition, Nishant maintains his indifference.

It is not till you turn the topic to food that the boxer in Nishant eases his guard and makes room for the true Haryana boy. “ Main khaane ka toh bohot shaukeen hun (I go crazy about food). I used to train in the 50kg category when I joined the Inspire Institute of Sport. The diet there is so good, I ate so much that I gained 10kgs in one year. Then again it jumped to 69kgs in a couple of years,” Nishant says.

The rigorous regime of a boxer may demand otherwise, but Nishant still finds the window to savour some of his favourite delicacies when he’s not competing. 

“I usually start a diet plan when I am close to competition. I start avoiding fried food too. During normal training, I can have it once in a while, there’s no restriction like that. But it’s mostly on the weekends,” he says.

The one who always finds a place in his schedule is  Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman). After securing the Olympic quota, the boxer shared a video on Instagram saying, “Why fear when Hanuman ji is here?”

“ Bajrang Bali ko kaafi zyada maanta hun main (I am a devotee of Lord Hanuman). Since I have been a boxer, I have been a believer. Even before that when I was five-six years old, I have been praying since I started boxing.  Sirf hanuman ji ki hee pooja karta hun aur kisi ki nahi (I only pray to Lord Hanuman, no other god). I just did it because I liked it. I think there’s a positive energy I get when I pray and that’s it,” Nishant says.

Nishant will hope his  Bajrang Bali will watch over him as he steps into the North Paris Arena to get what no other Indian has managed – a boxing gold at the Olympics.