World Women’s Boxing Championships finals, HIGHLIGHTS: Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain clinch gold medals

Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the finals of the 2023 World Women’s Boxing Championships in New Delhi where Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) won gold medals.

Nikhat Zareen (left) and Lovlina Borgohain (right) will compete in the 50kg and 75kg finals, respectively at the 2023 World Women’s Boxing Championships. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the finals of the 2023 World Women’s Boxing Championships in New Delhi where Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) won gold medals.

RESULTS

50kg final - Nikhat Zareen bt Vietnam’s Nguyen Thị Tam 5-0

75kg final - Lovlina Borgohain bt Australia’s Caitlin Parker by split decision of 5-2

9PM - And that’s it from this edition of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. India finishes with four gold medals, equalling its best-ever performance from 17 years ago.

8:55PM - The medal ceremony for the 75kg category is underway. The bronze medal is shared by Kazakhstan’s Khalzova Valentina and China’s Li Qian. Australia’s Caitlin Parker gets the silver medal. And the new world champion, the home favourite, Lovlina Borgohain receives the gold medal! Time for the Indian national anthem to be played for the second time today.

8:49PM - The new world champion in the heavyweight category, by a 4-1 split decision win over Kazakhstan’s Lazzat Kungeibayeva, is Morocco’s Khadija Mardi.

8:30PM - The final bout of the competition - the +81kg summit clash between Morocco’s Khadija Mardi and Kazakhstan’s Lazzat Kungeibayeva is underway.

8:15PM - Time for the medal ceremony of the 60kg category. Korea’s Oh Yeonji and China’s Yang Wenlu share the bronze, silver goes to Colombia’s Valdez Pana Angie Paola while Brazil’s Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira receives the gold medal.

8:02PM - The bout has gone for a review. The final verdict is in. The new 75kg world champion, by split decision of 5-2, is India’s Lovlina Borgohain!!!!! India finishes the tournament with four gold medals, matching its best tally from 2006.

MATCH REPORT - Lovlina Borgohain becomes champion in 75kg category

Lovlina Borgohain is a WORLD CHAMPION!!! 🥇

India's 4th GOLD at #WBC2023, equalling the tally from 2006🔥 pic.twitter.com/p6gZcwyJrd

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) March 26, 2023

75kg final - Lovlina Borgohain vs Australia’s Caitlin Parker

FIRST ROUND

And the bout is underway! Both boxers manage to land a clean punch in the first minute. Parker’s jab is working effectively for her. Final 30 seconds. Lovlina looking for opportunities but Parker is alert. The round is over and according to three judges, Lovlina is ahead while the other two are in Parker’s favour.

SECOND ROUND

Parker has upped the aggression. However, no clean punches. Lovlina lands a clean hook towards the end. And just like that, the second round is over. Well, how about that! Parker is leading 2-1 after two rounds.

THIRD ROUND

It is now or never for Lovlina and she knows it. A compact defense for Parker will seal the gold for the Australian. Parker hits a clean jab. Lovlina goes for the upper cut but misses. Final minute of this bout. The round ends. Yet again, a close finish. Could go either way as both boxers celebrate, thinking they have done enough to seal the gold.

7:47PM - Now, the bout everyone had been waiting for - home favourite Lovlina Borgohain (in red jersey) takes on Australia’s Caitlin Parker (in blue jersey) in the 75kg final.

7:44PM - China’s Liu Yang is the new world champion in the 66kg category with a 5-0 win over Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng.

7:28PM - The next bout is the final of the 66kg category between Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng and China’s Liu Yang.

7:20PM - Next up is medal ceremony for the 54kg category. Enkhjargal Munguntsetseg of Mongolia and Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand share the bronze medal. Silver medal goes to Yeni Marcela Arias Castañeda. of Colombia. Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei, the new world champion, receives the gold medal.

7:10PM - All set for the 50kg medal ceremony. Frenchwoman Lkhadiri Wassila and Ingrit Valencia of Colombia share the bronze medal. Vietnam’s Nguyen Thị Tam, the first boxer from her nation to reach a world championship final, receives silver. And now, the new world champion, India’s Nikhat Zareen is awarded the gold medal. All rise up for the Indian national anthem!

7PM - She absolutely bossed the bout. Therefore, without a doubt, the new 60kg world champion is Brazil’s Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira after a 5-0 win over Valdez Pana Angie Paola of Colombia.

6:45PM - It’s time for the 60kg final where Brazil’s Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira takes on Valdez Pana Angie Paola of Colombia.

6:40PM - The new 54kg bantamweight world champion, by unanimous decision (5-0), is Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei.

6:25PM - Next up is the 52-54kg (Bantamweight) final between Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei and Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castañeda.

6:20PM -The verdict is in. And the new light flyweight world champion, by unanimous decision (5-0), is India’s Nikhat Zareen!!!!!

MATCH REPORT: Nikhat Zareen becomes world champion in 50kg category

Nikhat Zareen - DOUBLE WORLD BOXING CHAMPION! 🥇🥇#WBCpic.twitter.com/AkbdIN7S0Z

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) March 26, 2023

50kg final - Nikhat Zareen vs Nguyen Thị Tam (Vietnam)

FIRST ROUND

Tam lands the first few clean punches. The southpaw has the height advantage too over the Indian. Nikhat manages to land a jab. Tam has been issued a yellow card for clinching a bit too much. The first round ends. And according to all five judges, Nikhat is ahead as she receives perfect 10 from all.

SECOND ROUND

Nikhat too receives a yellow card in the first 45 seconds of the second round. The Indian continues to stay aggressive. Nikhat lands a clean left punch. And follows it up with two more! Tam is clearly rattled and looks to just go for the kill eventually resulting in both boxers losing their balance. After the second round, Nikhat is ahead according to two judges while the other three think there is nothing to separate the two boxers.

THIRD ROUND

The final round is underway and Tam is clearly pumped after making a comeback in the previous round. Tam receives a standing count after Nikhat lands a heavy right punch! The Vietnamese just manages to stay in the match. And now, southpaw lands one bang in Nikhat’s face with the Indian receiving a standing count. This is too close to call. And just before the round ends, Tam seems to have landed another!

6PM - Here we go. The first bout of the day is about to begin as home favourite Nikhat Zareen (in red jersey) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Thị Tam (in blue jersey) make their way to the ring for the 50kg final.

5:50PM - Lovlina’s road to 75kg final

Semifinal - Beat Li Qian (CHN) 4-1

Quarterfinal - Beat Rady Gramane (MOZ) 5-0

2nd Round - Beat Citlalli Ortiz (MEX) 5-0

1st Round - Bye

5:40PM - Nikhat’s road to 50kg final -

Semifinal - Beat Ingrit Valencia (COL) 5-0

Quarterfinal - Beat Chuthamath Raksat (THA) 5-2

3rd Round - Beat Fatima Herrera Alvarez (MEX) 5-0

2nd Round - Beat Roumaysa Boualam (ALG) 5-0

1st Round - Beat Anakhanim Ismayilova (AZE) via RSC

5:30PM - Yesterday, Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) won two gold medals for the home nation. Will Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain add two more today?

PREVIEW

India’s Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will take on Vietnam’s Nguyen Thị Tam and Caitlin Parker of Australia, respectively, in the IBA Women’s Boxing World Championship 2023 finals.

Nikhat Zareen has had to fight five tough opponents to get to the final of the 50kg category of the IBA Boxing World Championships. She has beaten Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat and Colombia’s Ingrid Valencia, who had four World Championships and one Olympic medal between them. Nikhat will face another tough task against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam. At 28 years old, Tam is a seasoned veteran with two gold medals at the Asian Championships, including the most recent edition in Jordan last year.

As a southpaw boxer, Tam will create difficult angles for Nikhat, and she’s known to trouble the best boxers in the world. At the Asian Championships last year, she beat Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Tsukimi Namiki of Japan. A year earlier, she had lost to Stoyka Krasteva of Bulgaria in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics. Krasteva edged a very close 3-2 decision against the Vietnamese boxer, which was her closest bout of the entire tournament.

At the 2023 World Championships, Tam managed to pick up a few scalps on the way to the final. She’s beaten two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in the first round, 2022 Worlds bronze medallist Laura Fuertes of Spain in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals overcame a spirited Wassila Lkhadiri of France, who had earlier beaten Japan’s Namiki and 2018 Asian Games champion Wang Yuan of China.

Two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Caitlin Parker stands between Lovlina Borgohain and her first gold medal at the World Championships. At 5 foot 9, Parker is just slightly shorter than Borgohain, which will be of some relief to the Indian, who had to overcome a reach disadvantage in her previous bout against China’s Li Quan.

Borgohain goes into the contest with the better record on paper – she is already a two-time world medallist and an Olympic bronze medallist – in contrast to Parker, who has never medalled at either the worlds or the Olympics. However, where, Parker, 25, has the advantage that she has competed in middleweight for a lot longer -- she won a bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics in this weight class -- than Borgohain. The Indian only switched from her preferred welterweight division (69kg) to the middleweight (75kg) category last year after the former weight class was dropped from the Olympic program.

Both Lovlina and Parker are orthodox boxers which will negate for both opponents any unusual angles. Parker is also unlikely to be overawed by the Indian’s superior record. She remains the last opponent to have beaten Tokyo Olympic champion Lauren Price while at the World Championships in New Delhi. Parker has also defeated World Champions Athena Bylon and Valentina Khalzova en route to the final.

Where to watch?

The 2023 IBA Women’s Boxing World Championship 2023 finals will be telecast live on DD Sports and streamed on its YouTube channel as well as on Sony Sports Network and Sony Liv from 6PM onwards.