India boxers Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) notched dominating wins to cruise into the quarter finals of the men’s World Championships here on Tuesday.
Continuing his good run in the tournament, Deepak brushed aside China’s Zhangh Jiamao by a 5-0 unanimous verdict in the 51kg Round-of-16 bout.
Nishant hardly broke a sweat as he registered a first-round RSC (referee stops the contest) win against Palestine’s Foqahaa Nidal in his 71kg last-16 contest.
Such was Nishant’s domination that he spent less than two minutes in the ring before being declared the winner.
The Indian southpaw resorted to body blows before striking Nidal with a powerful right hook that compelled the referee to give the Palestinian his first standing count.
A few seconds later, Nishant unleashed a combination of left-right-left hooks as Nidal fell on the canvas, forcing the referee to give him his second count before stopping the contest.
Nishant will face Cuba’s Jorge Cuellar in the quarter finals on Wednesday.
Competing in the 51kg Olympic category, Deepak put up a brilliant display once again.
While the first round was neck-and-neck with both boxers exchanging blows, the 25-year-old Indian managed to take a slender 3-2 lead.
The Haryana boxer ramped up the tempo in the next six minutes.
Deepak used his nimble foot to move around the ring, landing a combination of punches while also ducking away from his opponent’s attacks rather effortlessly.
“My strategy was to use my strongest weapon in the match which is my left hook and everything went according to our plan in the match.
“I tried to get the momentum early in the bout and lure my opponent before striking some accurate punches.
“My focus is on the next bout now and I will give my 100 per cent in it to ensure a medal for India,” Deepak said after the victory.
Next, he is up against Diushebaev Nurzhigit of Kyrgyzstan and will look to confirm a medal for India.
On Sunday, Deepak pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he upstaged Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and 2021 world champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.
Deepak was selected ahead of World Championship silver medallist Amit Panghal and the 25-year-old has put up impressive performances in all the three bouts he has played so far.
Written with inputs from PTI
