From Jhajjar to Glory: Hitesh Gulia Strikes Gold at World Boxing Cup Brazil 2025- Exclusive

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World Boxing Cup Brazil 2025: From a local boxing ring in Haryana's city of Jhajjar to winning gold at the season's first World Boxing Cup Brazil 2025, the journey has been long and arduous for Hitesh Gulia.

After a string of good performances in domestic events, India's 20-year-old Gulia added a gold medal to his kitty on Saturday at World Boxing Cup in Foz Do Iguacu.

Gulia gave a good account of his prowess at the season's first international tournament in Brazil and fought his way to the top in men's 70kg. However, in the gold medal round he didn't sweat as he got a walkover from England's Odel Kamara who pulled out of the final bout due to injury.

"I was mentally prepared for the final round, but was told by the coaching team that my opponent is medically unfit," the Indian boxer told Mykhel over the phone from Brazil.

Gulia was the first Indian boxer to win gold in Brazil. On his way to the final, he beat more experienced boxer and Olympian Makan Traore from France. "It was challenging to make the final round as the preparation for the World Boxing Cup was just 10 days," the Indian boxer added. "We reached Brazil nearly a week before the competition. Got a good chance to spar with other boxers and acclimatized to local weather conditions. It just added to our confidence," he added.

It has been a good journey this season for Gulia, who hails from the village Jahangirpur. The youngest of the four siblings of a farmer in Jhajjar, he visited the local stadium when he was barely 11 years old. "I started boxing to improve my fitness. But when I won a medal in the district meet, my parents encouraged me to continue with boxing," he recalled.

Three years ago, he joined the Indian Navy via sports quota, which further gave him a chance to improve his fitness as well as skills.

Representing the Services team in domestic meets, Gulia won gold at the senior national men's boxing championships in January followed by another gold medal at the 38th Uttarakhand National Games.

His goal is to stay healthy and excel at the 2025 World Boxing Championship in September. "The World Championship will be a good platform to learn and further prove my prowess," the World Boxing Cup gold medallist said.

Narrating his preparation for a gold winning performance at the National Games, Gulia said he religiously follows a diet chart to stay within the 70kg weight category throughout the season. "It's challenging task to maintain a steady body weight in combat sports like boxing," Gulia added. "I strictly follow a diet chart and don't reduce weight close to the competition, which has greatly enabled me to perform at my potential."