Interaction with Women’ Boxing World Champion Nikhat Zareen

CWG 2022: World Champion Nikhat Zareen held a press meet before leaving for Ireland In the meet, Nikhat answered all the questions the journalists had for her.

Boxer Nikhat Zareen made her country proud again, by winning the Gold at the Women’s World Women’s World Championships in Istanbul on May 19.

Nikhat Zareen became the fifth Indian to win the World Title. Before this Mary Kom won it six times (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2018) and Sarita Devi, Jenny RL, and Lekha KC also won the world title in 2006.

Currently, Zareen is preparing for her trip to the Republlic of Ireland, where, a training camp is to be held. The camp is completely sponsored by the Government of India and this is where the boxers will practice, before going to UK for the Commonwealth Games.

“Yes we are leaving for Ireland from Delhi on the 10th of July. We have 2 weeks of training camp, before the big event. There will be boxers from different nations, present in the training camp. This is similar to my preparation before the World Championship in Istanbul. We had gone to Istanbul for training and that helped us a lot.”

“Training with boxers from different countries gives us self-confidence. It also gives us an idea of how the boxer will approach the match and it is comparatively easier to tackle them during the actual fight. I am confident that the efforts of the government for sending us for a training camp will prove fruitful and hopefully, we can come back with a CWG Gold Medal around our neck,” Zareen added.

Nikhat also mentioned that she has changed her weight category for the upcoming Commonweslth Games, 2022. She will be fighting it out with other talented boxers in the 50 kg category. When quizzed about the difficulties faced while preparing for a new category,

Nikhat said, “In the World Championships, I played in the 52 kg category, whereas in the Asian Games, 51 kg category is there, which I will participate in. As for the Commonwealth games, they have chosen the 50 kg category and hence I had no other option but to play in this category.”

“I did not find it very challenging to lose weight. I had to lose 2 kg weight to meet the 50 kg criteria and I felt comfortable doing it. Personally, I would rather lose weight and prepare myself for the 50 kg category than gain weight. 54 kg category is an option too but, till now, I have been reducing my weight to settle into a new weight category.”

“If I were to change my weight and compete in the 54 kg category, I will have to increase my muscle mass and strength. Olympics comes every 4 years. There are many boxers the 60 kg category, who will try to lose their weight and compete in the 54 kg category. It will be tough for me to compete with them, hence, I prefer to lose weight and compete in the lesser weight category.”

Nikhat Zareen is 1 off 4 women boxers that will represent India at the Olympics. All in all, there are 12 boxers in the Indian CWG squad, 8 men and 4 women. Overall, Nikhat mentioned that she is hopeful that the boxing team will get 8 medals.

The Commonwealth Games begin in UK on 28th July, 2022.