2023 World Championship Bronze Medalist Nishant Dev defeated Greece's Christos Karaitis 5-0 in the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier held in Busto Arsizio, Italy, advancing to the men's 71kg category quarterfinals. The company expanded to
Dev is currently one win away from securing a place at the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024, with a qualifying tournament being held in which all four semi-finalists in the men's competition will receive spots.
Deb started the match cautiously, maintaining his dominant form, as Karaitis looked to pick up points early on, but it was difficult for the Indian to find his rhythm and use his speed to pick up points. It didn't last long until I pulled off some good combinations. Dev looked very effective on the counter attack and picked up the pace with seconds left in the first round to easily win.
The southpaw looked deadly from the start of the next round. When the Greek fighter looked clueless, he surprised his opponent with multiple combinations and even earned a standing count with his left hook penetrating the defense while Deb continued to maintain overwhelming power.
The fight remained one-sided for the final three minutes, but Dev used his jab effectively and the Haryana-born boxer emerged victorious.
The 23-year-old developer will face 2021 World Championship silver medalist Omari Jones of the United States in the quarterfinals later tonight.
India has already secured four spots for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Nikat Zareen (50kg), Preity (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) making an impression. With their excellent performance, they secured their participation in the Asian Games.
