Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain win boxing World Championships titles

Ace Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen added a second world Championships title to her name, defeating Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam in the 50kg summit clash in New Delhi on Sunday (March 26).

Nikhat upstaged Tam by a 5-0 verdict.

Later, another Indian boxer, Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) too became a world champion with a 5-2 win over Australia’s Caitlin Parker.

Nikhat became only the second Indian after the legendary MC Mary Kom to win the prestigious title twice.

Also read: Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora become boxing world champions

“I am extremely delighted to become world champion for the second time, especially in a different category. Today’s bout was my toughest in the entire tournament and since this was the last match of the tournament I wanted to utilise my energy completely and leave everything in the ring,” said Nikhat after her win.

She added, “It was a rollercoaster of a bout with both of us getting warnings as well as eight counts and it was very close. My strategy in the last round was to go all out and attack and I felt very happy when my hand was lifted as the winner. This medal is for India and for everyone who has supported us throughout the tournament.”

Also read: Nikhat Zareen: From challenging Mary Kom to becoming world champion

On Saturday, Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) were crowned world champions.

Host India is on course to match their best-ever performance in terms of gold medals won with Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain set to take the ring later in the day.

India had won four golds in the 2006 edition at home which was also the country’s best-ever display with a haul of eight medals, including a silver.