In the end, it was all over in under two minutes.
On 25 January, Nishant Dev, a 24-year-old boxer from Karnal in Haryana, did something only a handful of Indians have done before him—turn professional as a boxer. Signed on by one of the world’s most prestigious boxing promotions—Matchroom—Dev made his debut at the towering The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, famous for its 100,000 square feet casino, against another rookie, the California boxer Alton Wiggins.
In the space of a few seconds—the time it took for Dev to judge his distance using his jab—the left-handed Indian boxer showed that he was leagues ahead of his opponent, even though this was his very first pro bout. Dev landed everything, a helpless Wiggins floored once by a right hook-left hook combination, then again by left-hook, right upper cut combination, and yet again from a blur of jabs and hooks that convinced the referee that it was pointless for the fight to go on.
It was not just the manner of the win, but also the way Dev moved in the ring that stood out. Standing tall, with a wide stance, the southpaw moved with the kind of speed that’s, arguably, never been seen in an Indian fighter at any weight category above 60kgs (Dev is 71kg, Light Middleweight). But that speed did not come at the cost of either accuracy or power. Wiggins could barely withstand the force of the punches, and Dev’s pinpoint targeting, which resulted in multiple blows to the head and body of Wiggins, was a delight for anyone who appreciates ringcraft.
It was clear as day: Dev had transitioned from being a fast-punching machine with low power and middling accuracy, the style that made him a reasonably successful amateur (with a world championship bronze and a scandalously judged loss—Dev was a clear winner—in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics), to a highly-skilled, hard-punching, pro, courtesy a three-month training stint in the US with his coach Ronald Simms.
“I want to be a world champion,” a breathless Dev said in the ring after the win. “I want to make a legacy, the first boxing world champion from India.”
It will be a tough road ahead for Dev, because the professional boxing scene is not just about a fighter’s skills, but a vast, opaque, and ruthless world of lobbying, backroom deals, politics, and influence. In this world, unless you are a once-in-a-generation talent like Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr, no one can predict how your career will unfold, or whether you will even get fights or not.
India, unlike say the US, United Kingdom, or Mexico, has no presence in the pro scene when it comes to promotions and lobbying, which means Indian fighters will always find it extra hard to break into the scene, and even harder to bag fights and stay afloat.
The number of Indian boxers who turned pro before Dev can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The three-time Olympian Vikas Krishan won all three of his pro fights, but his career went nowhere. He bagged two fights in 2019, the year he turned pro, and just one in 2023. Nothing else came his way. Neeraj Goyat was one of the first Indians to turn pro, back in 2015. He had a promising start, establishing himself as a top prospect in Asia, before promoters lost interest in him. He now keeps himself on the scene by participating in hyped up but meaningless matches with social media influencers (Goyat fought one such bout on the undercard of that pathetic show where Mike Tyson fought social media influencer Jake Paul).
The most successful pro stint so far belongs to the Olympic medallist Vijender Singh, who turned pro in 2015 after fighting in three Olympics, far too late in his boxing life. Yet, managed by a big UK promoter, Singh pulled off some impressive victories, winning 13 of his 14 fights. But age was against him—there was a dramatic drop in speed and reflexes two years after his pro debut, and Singh was quietly shelved by his promoters.
There are certain things going for Dev that were not on the side of the other Indians who went pro. The first, and the most important, is that he is a better boxer. It was just one fight, but Dev’s debut put his boxing skills beyond doubt—he is much faster, and much more accurate than Singh ever was, while matching Singh in strength. Dev’s range of skills and combinations are far superior to anything Krishan had in his bag. The second, is that he is promoted by an organisation whose stable includes the likes of Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Dmitry Bivol.
The third—at 24, Dev is at the peak of his athletic prowess, working with a coach he has known since he was 16 (Simms was the coach at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport, where Dev began training at 16).
An Indian professional boxer making all the right moves is the rarest of things, and Dev deserves all the attention and support he can get.
(To reach Rudraneil Sengupta with feedback, email rudraneil@gmail.com)
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