In a nation where cricket dominates headlines, Nishant Dev is quietly carving out space for something different—something heavier, tougher, and far less celebrated. With over 1.4 billion sets of eyes in India, Dev has the potential to break all kinds of viewing records. “Before, people in India only liked cricket,” Dev tells BoxingScene. “But right now, when they see me, they really support me after the Olympics. Like, there is only one guy who is in professional boxing and making India proud.”
At just 24, the rising junior middleweight isn’t just fighting opponents in the ring; he’s challenging an entire country’s idea of what a sporting hero looks like. And with a pro debut in the U.S. already under his belt and the backing of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, he’s on the cusp of becoming India’s first true global boxing star.
“I think in a few years I will be the biggest star of Indian boxing and of Indian athletes,” he says with an air of confidence. “I think I just want to make the next generation of athletes go towards boxing and make another legacy for their family, for their country. So that's how I think.”
Dev was quickly snapped up by Matchroom after his showing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris; he didn’t claim a medal, but Hearn saw his potential. “I think Eddie [Hearn] was excited when he got to know that I beat Marco Verde, I beat Omari Jones, I beat Lewis Richardson, and I'm from India,” Dev explains. “He’d never even heard of a boxer from India doing good in boxing, because there is no other athlete who is signed with the biggest promotions in the world and reached a pro debut in the USA. Like there are some professional athletes, professional boxers in India, but they fight at very lower levels.
“So, I feel like Eddie's so excited for me to go for my next fight, because he knows… he has seen the potential, a good prospect in me. And I have shown it to the world. I have beaten the Olympics medalist, the bronze medalist.”
That next fight will be this Saturday on the undercard of Richardson Hitchins’ first defense of his IBF 140lb title against former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos. Dev, 1-0 (1 KO), will take on Josue Silva, 3-2 (1 KO), in what is seen as a relatively easy bout. But Dev’s journey into the sport wasn’t always straightforward.
FROM FARM BOY TO FIGHTER
Dev grew up on a farm in Karnal, India, alongside his hard working, and down-to-earth family. It is where Dev learnt the epitome of hard work. Seeing his father plough through the fields and tend to the cattle inspired him. It is also where Dev found his fighting spirit.
“Some families support their children in other ways… when I was a child, when I’d fall from the stairs or something, my family would say, ‘It’s okay, you must stand by yourself and come back.’ That makes strong hearts and mentality – like a superhero mentality,” Dev recalls. If you see other families, in other countries, if you fall, the family is going to come like, ‘Oh my baby, what happened to you?’ In India the mentality is different from other countries. They want you to grow by your own two feet, and make your mentality like: ‘Nobody is going to help you, you have to help yourself; make good of yourself.’ So, from that culture, it makes my mentality different.
“It’s really going to help in my professional career. If I get punched and get knocked down, I have that mentality to say, ‘Come on Nishant, get up, you can continue the fight.’ I have that mentality to stand by myself and fight back. These things have really helped me in my boxing career.”
Dev did not just learn plenty of life lessons on the farm. It is also where he first laced a pair of boxing gloves and learnt the skills that have put him on the cusp of super stardom today. When Dev was eight years old, his uncle, Karamveer Singh, was living in Germany making a living fighting professionally in local clubs.
“Whenever he’d come home on some vacations, he’d call my parents and say, ‘Send Nishant home, I want to teach him some boxing,’” Dev says with a smile. “I was very small, like eight years old, and he would teach me some drills like footwork, and putting a ball under my chin so my chin will always be down. He motivated me and inspired me to start boxing.”
Dev’s uncle was unable to continue boxing due to financial reasons and had to instead dedicate his time to farming in Italy in order to support his family. But he was pleased to know of the impact he had on his young nephew when he returned home. Dev had started training at a local amateur gym and quickly gained a reputation as one of the area's best fighters.
“He was still in Germany when he knew I’d started boxing. He was really excited. He couldn't believe that I’d started boxing,” Dev says. “He came back to India and I showed him some shadow boxing, and he was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ Financially he was not good at the time, and he didn’t have some documents, so he decided to quit boxing and concentrate on farming. I told him I’d be a good boxer, and we flashback to when he was teaching me all the drills, and now I’m at a good level. So, he’s really, really proud.”
OLYMPIC HEARTBREAK
Dev quickly established himself as India's finest amateur boxer and was sent around the globe to compete against the best boxers in the world. Competing in the same division as Omari Jones, Marco Verdi and Lewis Richardson, it was never going to be easy to dominate, but Dev picked up wins against all three during his time in the unpaid ranks.
The highlight of Dev’s amateur career was a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Dev fell to the experienced Khazak Aslanbek Shymbergenov in the semi-finals in a bout that he and many others felt he had done enough to win. After his performance in the World Championships and then his domination in the final Olympic qualifier out in Thailand, Dev was seen as one of the favorites to medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“I worked so hard, day and night,” he says. “At the Olympics I thought I was going to be the gold medallist, because I am very good compared to other boxers. I know I can achieve more than what other athletes can do. Every day I was manifesting that dream. It felt like I was living in that dream. When I saw the draw, I thought this is easy for me. I can be the Olympic champion.”
Dev was drawn against Ecuador’s Jose Rodriguez in his first bout and, should he have won, his route to the final would likely feature bouts against his rivals Verde, Jones and Richardson. Dev defeated Rodriguez and looked set to achieve his Olympic dream when he was drawn against Mexico’s Verde in the quarter finals. Controversy then struck again.
“I was winning all three rounds, I know I was dominating all three rounds,” he says, clearly still angered by the contest. “He was holding me, the judges were not saying anything to him, but still I couldn't believe they made me lose. I was so heartbroken. If I flashback to it, it makes my heart heavy and I feel emotional. I worked 15 years for that Olympics… if I lost a unanimous decision, I’d say, ‘I lost, I need more improvements and more experience to beat these guys.’ I’d be satisfied.”
The heartbroken Dev slumped out of the Olympics empty-handed while his rivals Jones and Richardson collected bronze medals, and Verde won silver. Olympic gold had been the dream and Dev had considered staying on in the unpaid ranks for another four years to achieve his dream. However, with rumours that boxing was to be axed from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, he followed his amateur rivals Verde, Jones, and Richardson into the professional game.
THE NEW FOUR KINGS
All four of the amateur rivals are now underway with their respective professional careers.
Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Teofimo Lopez have been professional for some time now, but getting them to face each other – even with world titles and hundreds of millions on offer – seems impossible. This was never the way in the past, and ‘The Four Kings’ of Marvin Hagler, ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran showed that. There is a feeling that this new generation of rivals coming from the amateur game will want to test themselves again in the paid ranks.
“I hope all three boxers who won the medals in the Olympics stay undefeated in professional boxing so that I can meet them down the road of becoming a world champion,” Dev says without blinking. “I don't want to be with them in six rounds or in eight rounds. I want to show them good punches in the 10 rounds or 12 rounds with world title fights, because they're going to be reminded of the fight for all their life and [that] they lose.
“I'm not the kind of person who really talks too much and doesn't show up in the ring. I know I can beat that guy in boxing and they are not good. They are not better than me. So I don't really stress about it, or think about other boxers. I'm looking at the 154lbs, and who is a world champion already. So, my mind is thinking bigger.”
Perhaps Dev’s most fierce rival, Omari Jones, is also part of the Matchroom stable.
“I have told Eddie [Hearn], ‘I will be waiting for that day when I will fight with Omari Jones,’” Dev says. “So he was like, ‘Yeah, we're gonna make this happen.’”
Dev believes it won’t be long before he is mixing it with the best in a division that includes stars such as Sebastian Fundora, Vergil Ortiz Jnr, Tim Tszyu and Terence Crawford.
“I think in three years, once I have eight, 10 fights, and I totally adapt to the professional game - the gloves, the rounds - then I think I'm ready to call out good fighters to fight with me,” the 24-year-old says. “But I'm not a guy who wants to rush. I have to take some years to get to that good level.”
A career is short-lived and Dev’s career is only starting. Yet, before you know it, it will be coming to a close. There are, however, boxes Dev wants to tick before that day comes.
“I want to fight a world title fight in my hometown in India. If that doesn’t happen, I want to fight in New York and the MGM [Grand, Las Vegas] where Pacquiao [and others] all have fights,” Dev says. “So these are all the places I want to fight, because I've been dreaming since childhood. I've seen when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight, so many thousands of people watching this fight. And the biggest celebrities [from] Bollywood and Hollywood were there. So I was dreaming that one day I will be like that.”
But, for now, Dev has work to take care of on June 14, but the future is bright for India’s next boxing star.