Started boxing to lose weight, making waves in 70kg with counter punches

In 2014, when a slightly overweight 10-year-old Hitesh Gulia visited Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Stadium in Jhajjar, Haryana, to learn boxing and maintain his bodyweight, nobody had thought that he would become a World Cup gold medall a decade later.Fast-forward to 2025, the 20-year-old pugil claimed gold in the 70 kg category at the first Boxing World Cup conducted newly-recognized body World Boxing in Foz Do Iguacu (pr: foh-sz du-igwa-su), Brazil. After defeating French Olympian Makan Traore in the semi-finals, Hitesh was awarded the title after his opponent, Odel Kamara of England was injured and couldn’t take to the ring in the final on Saturday.
“This is just the start of his journey at the international level. When he started boxing in 2014, it was just to improve his fitness as he weighed 50kg as a 10-year-old kid. Once he took up boxing, his interest in the sport peaked, and that’s when he decided to take it as a career,” his childhood coach Hitesh Deshwal told The Indian Express over a phone call.
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Featuring in his second international tournament, Hitesh started playing at the school level, and the medals won him encouraged his parents and coach to push him to the next level. “He won three gold medals at the state level in sub-junior which made us believe that he can go further in this sport. However, despite winning three gold medals, he wasn’t getting many chances at the national level. So, it was important to keep his morale high during that time as a father. I would always tell him that he has got it in him to succeed at the highest level,” Hitesh’s father Satyawan Gulia said.
After winning medals at the Haryana School State championship 2018 and at the School Games 2019, Hitesh started training at SAI Center in Bhiwani and that is where he was scouted the Indian Navy. “After he started training in Bhiwani, his career got a move on when the Indian Navy scouted him from there in 2022. He had just finished his 10th Standard exams and the Navy team asked him to join immediately via the sports quota without even looking at the marksheet,” Satyawan recalled.
“We conducted one of our camps at the SAI Center in Bhiwani. Hitesh used to come there to train regularly. When I saw him there, I wanted him in the Navy team,” M Suranjoy Singh, coach of the Indian Navy, who scouted Hitesh, said.”When I first saw him, it was clear to me that this kid has boxing sense. I spent some time observing him and saw that he understands the instructions from the sidelines clearly. His young age made him a suitable candidate for us and gave us a chance to work on his game,” he added further.
A long road ahead
Post the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hitesh has been on a constant rise at the National circuit. First, he clinched the title in the Inter-Services championships in September 2024 and represented Services at the 2025 Nationals to become the national champion. He also won the national games gold medal in Uttarakhand to continue his national-level domination.Story continues below this ad
“Hitesh is an extremely hard-working boxer. After joining the Navy in 2022, he didn’t go home for almost 17 months and trained constantly. He would train beyond designated training hours as he was used to training for longer hours. His commitment to training makes him extremely good in the ring,” Suranjoy said.
When asked what makes Hitesh good in the ring, his childhood coach Deshwal said, “His calm demeanour in the ring helps him a lot. He has got sharp punches and that is one of the most important things in modern-day boxing. When he started learning boxing, his body was very inflexible. But over the years, he has developed flexibility allowing him to move well in the ring.”
In the semi-final bout against Olympian Traore, Hitesh kept the French boxer on his toes and countered the moves of the opponent.”He is a good counter-puncher. At times, despite being cornered, Hitesh can counter brilliantly,” Deshwal added further.
There was some wayward punching from the Indian boxer in his bouts at the World Cup, but given his young age and scope of improvement, India already has a World Cup winning boxer for the cycle of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.Story continues below this ad
“There were many instances when Hitesh was demotivated due to not getting a chance. Like during his school days or when he missed a chance to play World Youth Championships during the COVID Pandemic, but I always told him to keep the grind on, his time will come. Today is that time and he has a very long future ahead for himself,” Hitesh’s father Satyawan concluded.