Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen await World Boxing Championships prize money to own their dream homes

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Indian Boxing maintained its upward curve on the world stage with some memorable performances. Indian pugilists have won seven medals in women's and men's IBA World Boxing Championships held in India and Uzbekistan respectively in 2023.

First, four Indian female pugilists won gold medals at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi and matched the nation's best performance in 17 years. Later, three male boxers clinched bronze medals at the World Championships held in Tashkent.

IBA Women's World Boxing Championships 2023 Result

Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75) and Saweety Boora (81kg) out-punched their opponents in the final in their respective categories to clinch gold medals in the marquee event and also bagged prize money of USD 100,000 (Rs 82.7 lakhs).

Nitu Ghanghas - who recently upgraded her weight category from 48 kg to 54 kg (which is an Olympic category) interacted with myKhel and explained the motive behind changing her weight category in the Asian Games year.

The southpaw from Bhivani, which is the boxing powerhouse of the nation, while speaking with mykhel, said, "As Nikhat has won the World Championships in the 50kg category she is going to represent in that category. That is why I decided to shift to the 54 kg category, which is an Olympic category. I am working on gaining weight and increasing my strength."

When asked what she intends to do with grand prize money from the World Championships, the Haryana girl claimed she hasn't yet received the money but wants to own a new house.

"I haven't received the prize money yet. Once I get it, I plan on constructing a house for my family. The current house we reside in is very small," Nitu stated.

While speaking with myKhel, Nitu's father Jai Bhagwan - who took a three-year-long unpaid leave to help his daughter - claimed they will also invest a decent amount of money to help more young girls in the region pick up boxing and pursue a career in the sport.

"Our struggle of five/six years bore fruit as Nitu won a gold medal in the World Championships. I faced so many hardships to help my daughter pursue a career in boxing. All those sacrifices have finally paid off as my daughter is a world champion now.

"The prize money will solve certain problems for us but we are also going to invest a good sum of money to help other young girls in the region who aspire to be like Nitu. That will be our contribution towards the sport which has given us so much."

While speaking with myKhel after winning her second straight title in the World Championships, Nikhat Zareen had also claimed that she'll also gift a new house to her parents.

"Apart from sending my parents for Umrah (the holy pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina), I will buy a new house for them with the prize money I receive," Nikhat told myKhel.

However, all four champion boxers haven't yet received the prize money of US$ 100,000. Responding to myKhel's query a Boxing Federation of India (BFI) official said, "IBA is yet to send the prize money. As per standard IBA norms, it takes a minimum of two months from the conclusion of the championship to process the transfer of prize money. As the two months period is yet to complete we haven't received the amount. All our four female boxers will receive the prize money soon."

The 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi concluded on March 26 and on the final day, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora were crowned champions.