Nikhat Zareen and Pawan Bartwal Shine at National Boxing Championships
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 gold medallist Pawan Bartwal, and Sumit showcased their dominance by securing victories over their opponents at the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships held at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida. Most other leading boxers also registered comfortable wins, advancing to the quarterfinals of their respective weight categories.
This championship is notable as it’s the first time the men’s and women’s National Championships are being held simultaneously at the same venue, with 600 boxers participating across 10 weight categories each for men and women.
In the women’s 48-51kg category, the referee stopped the bout between Nikhat and Ladakh’s Kulsooma Bano in the first round due to Nikhat’s dominant performance. Pawan, competing in the men’s 50-55kg, overcame Lalit, while Sumit, in the men’s 70-75kg category, defeated Madhya Pradesh’s Kapil, both bouts concluded in the third round.
Earlier, world champion Minakshi, competing in the women’s 45-48kg, continued her impressive run with a 5:0 victory over Annu from Jharkhand.
In the men’s 50-55kg category, Jadumani Singh won comfortably against Uttar Pradesh’s Manish Rathore with a score of 5:0, and 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal triumphed over Chandigarh’s Krrish Pal with a score of 4:1.
On the previous day, World Championship bronze medallist Pooja Rani and India international Jadumani Singh recorded easy wins. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and the experienced Amit Panghal faced tougher challenges but managed to advance.
Pooja, in the 75–80kg category, dominated Anju from Chandigarh, winning 5–0, while Jadumani executed a commanding performance against R Parthiban from Tamil Nadu, resulting in the referee stopping the bout in the second round.
Nevertheless, not every established star had an easy outing; Saweety challenged Assam’s Lovlina fiercely before Lovlina secured a narrow 3–2 split decision victory. In the men’s section, former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal (50–55kg), representing SSCB, edged past Priyanshu of Haryana with a close 3–2 split decision.