Nikhat Zareen Beats Nguyen Thi Tham To Become World Boxing Champion For 2nd Time

Women's World Boxing Championships: Nikhat Zareen becomes world champion after winning the 50kg category final against Nguyen Thi Tham

Source: Twitter

India's Nikhat Zareen defeated two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tham on Sunday (March 26) at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Delhi to become world champion for the second successive time. Just one day after Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora became world champions at the Women's World Boxing Championships, India has won another gold at the competition. Nikhat is now the second female boxer from India to win multiple gold medals at the World Championships after Mary Kom. She defeated Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in the 50kg category.

x World Champion  @nikhat_zareen ’s reaction right after scripting history @AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @anandmahindra @IBA_Boxing @Mahindra_Auto @MahindraRise @NehaAnandBrahma https://t.co/29Wd7lBDfx pic.twitter.com/kLcmJzLdcw

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 26, 2023

Nikhat won the intense contest against Thi Tam with a unanimous decision. She was on fire throwing continuous strikes against a cool-headed Thi Tam who tried to keep things under control. Zareen connected with a left jab and from then on it was a series of punches from the Indian pugilist.

Both boxers produced an intense affair in the final but Nikhat remained distance and kept surprising the Vietnam boxer with a good combination of attack and defence.

"I am very happy with the result I got for myself, personally it is a big achievement for me because it is my second time becoming the world champion but in a different weight category. It was a rollercoaster ride against my opponent in this final and finally when my hand was raised I could not control my happiness. Next target for me is the Asian Games where I will eye a similar result," said Nikhat after the historic win.

Despite shifting to light flyweight from flyweight for this year’s tournament, the 26-year-old pugilist from Telangana adjusted extremely well to her new weight category and performed at the highest of levels throughout the tournament. She notably toppled the top seed and the reigning African champ Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria, two-time World Championships bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand and the Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia.