By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Professional boxing has been launched in India with a veritable bang as Indian boxing star Neeraj Goyat won an historic WBC Asia Welterweight Championship in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
In a fight refereed by internationally respected New Zealander Bruce McTavish who has lived for over 40 years in Angeles City in the Philippines, Neeraj claimed the Asian Boxing Council title with a unanimous points victory over Nelson Diaz “Mt. Fantastic” Gulpe of the Philippines who was handled by former boxer now trainer/manager/promoter Aljoe Jaro.
In a post fight interview, the WBC quoted Goyat who said “It’s a great honor to win the WBC Asian boxing championship in New Delhi. This is a great achievement, a milestone for professional boxing in India, and I look forward to defending the title in India or another country.”
McTavish said there was a huge crowd at the fights which were excellent and action-packed with the event being staged by the North Indian Boxing Association (NIBA) in agreement with the Professional Boxing Organization India (PBOI).
The WBC said “The PBOI intends to hold the next WBC championship event in Mumbai, capital city of Maharashtra and the most populous city in India.”
Prior to the historic event, official weigh-in and media conference, Bruce McTavish, referee and director of the WBC Ring Officials Committee conducted a seminar for judges and referees which he told the New Standard/BoxingScene.com was “interesting because the Indians were eager to learn.”
