IMAGE: Zareen Nikhat will be representing India in her first international tournament since the Paris Olympics last year. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters
One of India’s top boxers, Nikhat Zareen, aims to return home with a medal from the upcoming World Boxing Championships 2025, which will be held in Liverpool in September this year.
After enduring a heartbreak in the Paris 2024 Olympics in the pre-quarter-finals, the World Boxing Championships will mark Nikhat’s first appearance for India at an international event.
Aiming for a third consecutive title, Nikhat, who clinched world titles in 2022 and 2023, will travel to Liverpool early to acclimatise. After a year away from the international stage, she will need to hit the ground running.
Last week, Nikhat was named in India’s 20-member contingent after a week-long selection evaluation at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala.
Nikhat, who recently won a silver medal at the Elite Women’s Boxing Tournament 2025, is bolstering her preparations and hopes to make India proud by clinching a medal. The 29-year-old revealed that during the preparations for the competition, the coaches are working hard to ensure the athletes reach a 100 per cent fitness level.
“So, yeah, after a long break, now again this year I am going to participate in this world championship, which is going to happen from 4th to 14th September in Liverpool, UK. So, I am looking forward to representing India and making the country proud there. So, after Paris, this will be my first international competition where I am going to represent India,” Nikhat told ANI.
“I have been working really hard, and I hope I come back with a medal. So, the preparations are going really well in the national camp in Patiala. The coaches are really supportive, and they are pushing us to get back to our 100 per cent fitness. So, yeah, from our side, we are leaving no stone unturned, so I am giving everything in my training session. Hopefully, I will come back with a medal and make the country proud,” she concluded.
This will be the inaugural World Boxing Championships, held by the newly formed World Boxing, the international governing body for the sport. It will see boxers from all over the globe compete for medals in 20 divisions: 10 weight classes for men and as many for women.
The matches will follow the Olympic format. Nikhat will be seen in the 51 kg class, while Lovlina Borgohain will compete in the women’s 75 kg division.
