Nishant Dev vows to change colour of India's boxing medal at Paris Olympics

Boxer Nishant Dev has a vision as clean as his punches as he is set to compete in the Paris Olympics later this month.

The 23-year-old, who will compete in the men's light middle-weight (71kg) category, craves a historic gold or silver for Indian boxing.

India won three medals in boxing at the Olympics since 2008, with Vijender Singh being the first Indian pugilist and only man to win a medal, a bronze at Beijing.

MC Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze medal each in 2012 and 2021 respectively.

As he is set to make his debut in Paris 2024, Nishant has only one target in mind which is to change the colour of the medal.

"My target is to change the colour of the medal in boxing. Our country's boxers have won bronze medals but not gold or silver till now," Nishant said during an interaction facilitated by JSW Sports on Sunday.

"I want to convert that bronze to not silver but gold. I have the confidence that I can achieve this. I have trained well. But at the end of the day, it is up to God," the boxer from Karnal, Haryana, added.

Nishant first broke into the international scene in 2021 when he reached the quarterfinal of the World Championships on debut.

Two years later, he clinched a bronze medal at the World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He booked his spot in the Paris Olympics in May this year after beating Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari 5-0 in the men’s 71kg quarterfinals at the World Boxing Qualifiers in Bangkok.

Nishant is one of the six Indian boxers who qualified for Paris 2024.