Boxer Deepak Bhoria defeats Martin Molina in IBA Champions' Night

World championship medalist boxer Deepak Bhoria turned up at the IBA Champions' Night in Madrid, Spain on Saturday and defeated fellow World Championship medalist Martin Molina of Spain.

IBA Champions' Night is organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA) and is the professional event of the organization.

The format of the event is like any other boxing promotion and there are a couple of main events along with Under-Card events. The main events have eight or ten rounds of three minutes each while the other events have six rounds of three minutes each.

Currently, the IBA is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for poor governance and is not involved in the boxing tournament happening in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After failing to secure Paris Olympics quota in the first Olympics qualifiers and Amit Panghal replacing him in the Indian squad for the second qualifiers, Deepak turned up at the event to fight in 51 kg.

Facing a familiar opponent in local boy Martin Molina, Deepak left no stone unturned to display his range of shots.

Having the height advantage, Deepak started well with his left hooks while Martin Molina sized up Deepak. Deepak brought out some good combinations to catch Martin unaware.

After a good first round, Deepak dominated the next two rounds to throw Martin on the backfoot. Deepak was exhausted in the fourth round as he is used to playing three rounds at the international level.

Deepak maintained his calm in the final two rounds and showed his experience to hold the fort. Deservingly he was announced as the winner by the split decision of the judges.