Second choice, first class: Deepak leads India boxers’ march to World C’ship semis

Always second choice

The experience of being chosen over Panghal was an almost cathartic moment for the boxer from Hisar. Both boxers hailing from Haryana knew that their biggest obstacle in each other’s path to the CWG, Asiads and Olympics would be decided in this battle for the flyweight category. In 2017, they met in a Services competition, one where Bhoria beat Panghal to qualify for the Nationals.

At those Nationals, he got caught by a Jammu boxer and was knocked out. It was a freak incident according to his boxing coach Rajesh Sheoran. The knockout automatically put him in a three-month concussion protocol – one that allowed Panghal to re-enter the picture and be selected for the national camp and then the Asian Games in 2018. From that moment, Panghal never looked back, beating names such as Uzbekistan’s Shakobhidin Zoirov and Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov – both Olympic and World medallists.

“He used to be quite stressed at that time. ‘I regularly beat these boxers but I don’t get opportunities’, was what he would call and complain about from the camp. He has beaten Amit Panghal two-three times in domestic competitions,” his coach Rajesh Sheoran told The Indian Express.

While Panghal went from strength to strength, Bhoria was left behind. He missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics qualification cycle, one where Panghal was India’s entrant for the flyweight category and made a tame first-round exit after being manhandled by Colombian boxer Yuberjen Martinez.

Getting his due

After the Olympics, two boxing World Championships have taken place and Bhoria has been selected for both of the events. In 2021, he lost to Bibossinov in a 5-0 unanimous decision in the quarterfinals. Two years later at these World Championships, he exorcised the ghosts of his debut at the Worlds, beating Bibossinov in a 5-2 split decision.

Turning setbacks into strengths has been a strong point for Bhoria. At this tournament, most of his best combinations have involved the final punch being a left hook. The lethal shot is one that was never really a strong point for the right-handed orthodox boxer, but one that was developed.

The story goes that as a teenager Bhoria broke his right hand. At the time he considered quitting the sport altogether because a long period of recovery didn’t yield complete fitness. Surgery followed. But during the time it took to recover from the surgery, Bhoria would practice with his left hand. His jabs began to grow stronger and so did his hooks. When his right hand completely healed, there stood a boxer who had proficiency in both his hands. That ability was something that has always been a part of his life, even when there were doubts that he would become a boxer.

Overcoming financial hurdles

When Bhoria first came to Sheoran’s gym, the nutrition that he was getting was a problem. Despite learning the intricacies of his sport, his body was his biggest weakness. A poor upbringing meant he couldn’t provide himself with the nutrition needed to become better.

“We could see he had the ability but whenever we tried to teach him something, he couldn’t complete those exercises. We realised the money situation in his family was very bad and he was struggling to even get three meals a day regularly. Parents of other students started to chip in and I would buy him milk. Juice vendors nearby were making drinks for him as well. Initially, he was so weak that he wouldn’t even be able to digest the food and supplements we were getting for him,” said Sheoran.

Those financial troubles remained for a few years, but then a vacancy at the Indian Army came about and Bhoria was selected immediately. The move made sure that his financial troubles were a thing of the past and also put him in the path of Panghal, a regular training partner as well as a future competitor.

Dev, Hussamudin in semis

While Mohammed Hussamudin has been a two-time bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games, this was his first World Championship medal. Hussamudin beat J Diaz Ibanez of Bulgaria in a 4-3 split decision that could have gone both ways. He next faces Saidel Horta of Cuba.

Nishant Dev, a boxer born in Haryana but representing Karnataka, punched his ticket into the semifinals of the Worlds as well. He defeated Cuba’s Jorge Cuellar in a unanimous decision. Dev was also a part of the Indian boxing contingent at the 2021 World Championships but had lost a close 4-1 decision to Russian silver medallist Vadim Musaev.