India At World Boxing Championships 2025 Review: Women Pugilists Shine With Historic Medal Haul In Liverpool

India finished third in the just-concluded World Boxing Championships 2025 in Liverpool, England. The outings, however, were less about headline-grabbing fireworks and more about foundational shifts within Indian boxing.

A 20-member strong team won four medals, including a couple of golds, with Jaismine Lamboria and Minakshi Hooda emerging as the standout performers. The men's contingent and two returning Olympians, however, faced disappointing outcomes at the inaugural edition of the championships, held at Liverpool Arena from September 4 to 14.

India's Golden Girls At The World Boxing Championships 2025?

Jaismine, competing in the 57kg featherweight category, showcased exceptional reach and counterpunching skills. The 24-year-old defeated 2024 Olympic Games silver medallist Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a 4-1 split decision, a significant improvement from her Paris outing, a round of 32 defeat.

Hooda mirrored Jaismine's scoreline with a 4-1 victory over Kazakhstan's Nazym Kyzaibay, a three-time world champion. The 23-year-old's win in the 48kg light flyweight division was special as she avenged an earlier loss to Kyzaibay at the Astana World Cup, marking a quiet redemption arc.

Sheoran And Rani Add Medals To India's Tally

Nupur Sheoran narrowly missed out on gold in the 80+kg heavyweight final, losing 2-3 to Poland's Agata Kaczmarska, a seasoned campaigner. Despite not clinching the top spot, the 26-year-old's silver medal was a testament to her grit. She is the granddaughter of legendary boxer Hawa Singh.

Pooja Rani, a familiar name in the Indian boxing scene, secured a bronze medal in the 80kg category after falling to England's Emily Asquith in the semifinals. The 34-year-old veteran's campaign was steady, if not spectacular, and her podium finish highlighted the value of experience in a field increasingly dominated by younger contenders.

These results, powered by Haryana, contributed to India's best-ever overseas medal haul at a single world event. All four medallists are from the northern Indian state.

Indian Men's Team And Returning Olympians Face Setbacks

The men's contingent and two returning Olympians failed to make a mark at the 2025 World Boxing Championships. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain exited in the second round of the 75kg middleweight category, while two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen bowed out in the quarterfinals of the 51kg flyweight division.

They were expected to anchor India's medal hopes, but both pugilists were knocked out by their Turkish rivals, by identical 0-5 margins: Borgohain to Busra Isildar, and Zareen to Buse Naz Cakiroglu.

And none of the Indian male boxers managed to enter the medal round, with Jadumani Mandengbam in the 50kg division, the last eliminated following a 0-4 defeat to former world champion Sanzhar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan.

India fielded 20 boxers but these setbacks highlighted the challenges faced by India's men’s team and also seasoned Olympians in a rapidly evolving international boxing landscape, now evidently dominated by pugilists from Central Asian countries.

Central Asian Dominance At World Boxing Championships 2025

The final medal tally event revealed Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan's overwhelming supremacy at the Liverpool Championships, securing 13 of 20 gold medals and sweeping all 10 men's titles between them in a historic display of regional boxing prowess.

Both countries were part of the erstwhile Soviet Union, which was dissolved in 1991, and they still have a sense of regional fraternity.

Kazakhstan topped the standings with seven golds, one silver, and two bronze medals, while Uzbekistan claimed six golds, two silver, and three bronze for a total of 11 medals, collectively accounting for 65 per cent of all gold awards and reshaping the competitive landscape.

This Central Asian duopoly left other nations, including India, competing for other podium spots in a championship where no other country managed more than two gold medals, with England as hosts finishing ninth overall with five medals but no golds. India, Brazil, and Poland completed the top five.

The dominance was particularly stark in the men's section, where Kazakh and Uzbek boxers won every single division, highlighted by direct finals such as Aibek Oralbay's narrow super-heavyweight victory over Jahongir Zokirov, which eventually decided the overall medal table ranking, in favour of Kazakhstan.

Geopolitics At The Heart Of World Boxing

The Championships proceeded without traditional powerhouses Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Moldova, and Serbia due to their non-affiliation with World Boxing, the newly recognised international federation that now controls Olympic qualification pathways.

The absence of boxers from these countries significantly altered the competitive field as they collectively represented historically strong Olympic boxing programs that would have challenged for multiple titles.

World Boxing's requirement for national federations to join by early 2025 to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympic Games 20229 created a high-stakes environment where non-members risked permanent Olympic exclusion, prompting many to switch allegiances despite political pressures.

What Else To Know: New Boxing Body, Boxing At LA28, And Indian Interests

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted provisional recognition to World Boxing, a major milestone for the newly-formed body, and a step that helped secure boxing's place in the Los Angeles Olympics after years of uncertainty following AIBA's suspension for systemic corruption and governance failures.

This decision, followed by the confirmation of the sport's inclusion in the LA28 programme during the 144th IOC Session, paved the way for the Liverpool event to become the inaugural edition of the World Championships under the new boxing body.

Consequently, the Liverpool event served dual purposes as both World Championships and the first official step in the LA28 qualification process, with national federations recognising that continued Olympic participation now depended entirely on affiliation with World Boxing.

World Boxing had earlier named India as the host of the World Boxing Cup 2025 Finals and Congress, scheduled to be held in New Delhi, signalling the country's transition from competitive participant to organisational leader in global governance.

This decision followed India's pivotal role in forming World Boxing's new Asian body, with BFI president Ajay Singh appointed to the federation's board and Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain joining the Athletes' Commission.