New Delhi, He claims he has the right blend of speed, timing and power that defines a world-beating boxer and that is why Olympics-bound Nishant Dev (71kg) says he himself There is no problem in calling it "God given".
His claim may seem arrogant to some people, but perhaps this confidence has earned him a place in the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old prodigy burst onto the scene in 2021 as he reached the light middle-weight (71kg) quarterfinals in his maiden World Championships.
Two years later, he has a World Championships bronze medal around his neck and is now one of the two Indian male boxers who will fly to Paris for the Olympics.
When Dev was asked in detail about his powers he said, “I am God-given, I have everything.,
"I have power, speed and timing. But the main thing is skill. If you have that then you can win against any kind of boxer," Dev said while speaking to select media on Wednesday.
Dev, who has battled a shoulder injury for years, sealed his place at the Paris Games with a stellar performance in the final qualifying event in Bangkok last week. He had missed the previous qualifier by a narrow margin, losing to USA's Omari Jones.Confident in his abilities, Dev then promised to make it to Paris no matter what it took.
"(There were) some shortcomings that I had, like less stamina in the third round, my body balance and the fact that my bodywork was a little bit weak. I didn't have the body language that I should have in the third round. I Worked on it all,” he revealed.
The southpaw lost to Jones in the final seconds of the bout after the two boxers went head-to-head in the first two rounds.Dev said that the defeat has filled him with a lot of anger.
"I have worked a lot for the competition, I have changed my strategy a bit, like in the first round, I (usually) start calmly. (But) this time I started trying from the very first second. The first round and continued until the last seconds of the bout.
“I took my anger out on America (the fight against Jones). I was confident that I would win this time.,
He may consider himself talented but Dev admitted that talent alone is not enough and one has to work hard like he did for his victory in Bangkok.
“I used my skills, I hit more body shots to completely tire my opponent, drain his energy. I have a lot of strength inside me, but you can't win a boxing match based on strength alone.
“You have to add little things to it, like speed, timing, power, boxing mind as well. So I combined all these things.,
After no male boxer from the country failed to make it to the World Qualifiers, Indian boxing faced a coaching crisis and high performance director Bernard Dunne tendered his resignation from Italy.
While Dunn's departure hampered his training somewhat, Indian boxers soon found a silver lining in the crisis. He was now allowed to train on his own beyond the schedule set by Dunn.
“The extra training helped because a boxer needs to be able to use his mind. Even if you are giving 30 minutes extra time, it gives the boxer a chance to think.“There are tactics and everything but at the end of the day, a boxer has to use his mind during the fight.”
His claim may seem arrogant to some people, but perhaps this confidence has earned him a place in the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old prodigy burst onto the scene in 2021 as he reached the light middle-weight (71kg) quarterfinals in his maiden World Championships.
Two years later, he has a World Championships bronze medal around his neck and is now one of the two Indian male boxers who will fly to Paris for the Olympics.
When Dev was asked in detail about his powers he said, “I am God-given, I have everything.,
"I have power, speed and timing. But the main thing is skill. If you have that then you can win against any kind of boxer," Dev said while speaking to select media on Wednesday.
Dev, who has battled a shoulder injury for years, sealed his place at the Paris Games with a stellar performance in the final qualifying event in Bangkok last week. He had missed the previous qualifier by a narrow margin, losing to USA's Omari Jones.Confident in his abilities, Dev then promised to make it to Paris no matter what it took.
"(There were) some shortcomings that I had, like less stamina in the third round, my body balance and the fact that my bodywork was a little bit weak. I didn't have the body language that I should have in the third round. I Worked on it all,” he revealed.
The southpaw lost to Jones in the final seconds of the bout after the two boxers went head-to-head in the first two rounds.Dev said that the defeat has filled him with a lot of anger.
"I have worked a lot for the competition, I have changed my strategy a bit, like in the first round, I (usually) start calmly. (But) this time I started trying from the very first second. The first round and continued until the last seconds of the bout.
“I took my anger out on America (the fight against Jones). I was confident that I would win this time.,
He may consider himself talented but Dev admitted that talent alone is not enough and one has to work hard like he did for his victory in Bangkok.
“I used my skills, I hit more body shots to completely tire my opponent, drain his energy. I have a lot of strength inside me, but you can't win a boxing match based on strength alone.
“You have to add little things to it, like speed, timing, power, boxing mind as well. So I combined all these things.,
After no male boxer from the country failed to make it to the World Qualifiers, Indian boxing faced a coaching crisis and high performance director Bernard Dunne tendered his resignation from Italy.
While Dunn's departure hampered his training somewhat, Indian boxers soon found a silver lining in the crisis. He was now allowed to train on his own beyond the schedule set by Dunn.
“The extra training helped because a boxer needs to be able to use his mind. Even if you are giving 30 minutes extra time, it gives the boxer a chance to think.“There are tactics and everything but at the end of the day, a boxer has to use his mind during the fight.”
