Boxer Nitu Ghanghas’ father took loans and sold his car for her training needs, today she is a World Boxing champion

Nitu Ghanghas defeated Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg in the 48kg final in a 5-0 unanimous decision to win the gold medal at the 2023 Women’s Boxing World Championships in Delhi on Saturday.
The latest medal adds to an already well-established l of achievements for the 22-year-old. Long touted as one of the emerging talents in Indian boxing after winning successive youth world championship titles in 2017 and 2018, Nitu also won the Commonwealth Games gold last year.
The southpaw has come a long way from humble beginnings. Inspired Vijender Singh’s Olympic exploits – he was in the stands to watch Nitu win gold – her father, Jai Bhagwan, took her to train with his coach at the Bhiwani Boxing Club in Haryana. He would later take loans from his friends and family, sell his car, and even skip office at his job as an employee at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha to support his daughter’s promising boxing career.

Nitu on the Podium 🤩
The moment you all been waiting for 🇮🇳🥊@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @IBA_Boxing @ASBC_official @NituGhanghas333 pic.twitter.com/qJWViIgVmM
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 25, 2023
“My job, the finances, the loans, they were not the priority, Nitu and her boxing were always the priority,” Jai Bhagwan told The Sunday Express. “All my sacrifices were dedicated towards that, and today is one of those days where it feels like everything was worth it.”
While Nitu started boxing after taking inspiration from one legendary Indian boxer, it is another legendary Indian boxer whose shoes she’s trying to fill.
Mary Kom’s trailblazing career included six successive World Championship titles and an Olympic bronze. Nitu, fighting in Mary’s 48kg category, then, has always been seen as an ideal replacement.
There have been shades of Mary in Nitu’s fighting style all throughout her run to the gold medal. Her speed is evident – top lightweight boxers have a general tendency to be quicker on their feet – but it is her power, and a heavyweight left hook, that turns heads. As is often the case in boxing, power is maken for pure brawn, but in Nitu’s case, it is the gradual holic development of her game, going from a solid long-range boxer to making changes in her footwork and attitude to introduce a level of aggression that most of her opponents have struggled to cope with.

Huge Victory!
Commonwealth Games gold medal has become a World Champion. Congratulations to@NituGhanghas333 on winning India’s first🥇 in the current IBA Women’s Boxing World Championships.
You have made 🇮🇳 proud! pic.twitter.com/ZGmfTBZB0A
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) March 25, 2023
Nitu stormed past each of her first three opponents, with the referee stopping the contest midway through the bout. She then scrapped and brawled her way through a tough test against Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova in the semifinal, and the same aggression was on display in the gold medal bout as well.
Nitu kicked off the bout with a trademark dart towards her opponent, feeling her out before landing the first punch. Within seconds, she would have Altantsetseg on the ropes, landing a big left hand on her temple before the Mongolian grappled and took her down. Nitu would go down twice more in the first round, with her opponent resorting to grapples and clinching with no answer to her offence.
After winning the first round 5-0, it was at the start of the second that the tide began turning. Nitu landed three clean punches, before retreating away from her natural game into defensive mode, to make sure she would not let her lead slip. Nerves became evident as she slipped twice trying to defend against the Mongolian, and she would just edge the second round 3-2. The third round did not have much clean boxing, but for Nitu it was all about managing her lead, which she did comfortably to get her first world championships gold.
She will have to take the result with a pinch of salt. An hour prior to Nitu’s gold medal bout, as spectators flocked into the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall to will the boxer on, Indian boxing’s high-performance director, Bernard Dunne, effectively confirmed that she will miss out on a chance to represent India at the Asian Games later this year.
Dunne said that, as per the selection criteria published on the Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) website, a gold or silver medall in an Olympic category at the Worlds is guaranteed a spot at the Asiad. Nikhat Zareen, who will be competing in the 50kg (Olympic) category gold medal bout on Sunday, is then assured a place in the continental games.

CHAMPION 🏆🥇
Nitu is a World Champion 💪🤩
Book your tickets for the final 🔗 on 🔗:https://t.co/k8OoHXo2BA@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @IBA_Boxing @NituGhanghas333 pic.twitter.com/C19mVQybrT
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 25, 2023
While it may be easy to get carried away with a result this big, Nitu is still a developing boxer. There are aspects of her movement, and split-second decision-making, that still need work. She can be trigger-happy with her punches, which sometimes means she fails to make a lot of clean contact. With the next weight category being an Olympic category, and big boxing nations like the US and Ireland boycotting, it was also not a full-strength field.
However, at 22, there is no doubt that Nitu is full of potential. While injuries and mental strife can come in the way of even the most promising young athletes, if Nitu’s gold medal run in Delhi is any evidence, it is only a matter of time before she makes the subtle improvements in her game and takes the next step.