Matchroom Boxing Signs Nishant Dev: A New Era for Indian Boxing

On January 10, Matchroom Boxing announced that they had signed Indian southpaw Nishant Dev and that he would turn professional with them.

To many, this may seem like any other signing that a boxing promotional company announces. After all, companies like Matchroom sign several boxers yearly, including Olympians. Dev is an Indian who represented his country at the Paris Olympics and is not just a random professional boxer from India. As he embarks on his professional career, he can set a precedent.

Nishant Dev and India’s Olympic Past

A History of India’s Boxing Olympians

To understand the potential significance of Dev turning pro, a discussion on Indian boxers at the Olympics is required. The first time India ever sent boxers to an Olympic Games was in 1948, a year in which seven men competed for the country (there was an eighth boxer, but before he could compete he was ruled ineligible because he was born in Iran). They also did so in 1952, though only four qualified for that edition.

After that, it was not until 1972 that an Indian boxer qualified for the Olympics. Since then, India has sent at least two boxers to each Olympics, though from 1988 onwards they have sent teams of at least three. Despite sending many boxers to the games, the country has only won three medals total, all bronze. The first of those medals came in 2008 at men’s middleweight with Vijender Singh. A second bronze was won in 2012 at women’s flyweight by Mary Kom. At the Tokyo Olympics, Lovlina Borgohain won the country’s third boxing bronze medal at women’s welterweight.

Many factors have been attributed to India’s poor performances at the Olympics and they also explain the lack of success from Indian boxers. This article by Esha Mitra and Lex Harvey of CNN lists underinvestment as “a major culprit” in addition to a lack of access to facilities for many Indians. Hannah Beech and Shalini Venugopal Bhagat of the New York Times also list corruption within the sports bureaucracy of the country as another factor.

All this aside, one thing remains true of Indian boxing Olympians: They hardly ever turn pro.

Indian Boxers and the Pro Boxing Ranks

Currently, BoxRec lists 888 boxers from India as “active.” Of them, 787 are male and 101 are female. None of those boxers ever represented India at an Olympics. If one were to look at every Indian boxer who ever represented the country at the Olympics (there are a few dozen), one would find hardly any of them have ever turned pro.

This could potentially be due to the benefits that come with boxing at the Olympics as an Indian. In addition to being athletes, many Indian boxing Olympians are also with the military, police or working some kind of government job. These jobs provide a stable income and allow the boxers to live comfortably. Turning professional would mean giving that up and taking a risk, something several Indian Olympic boxers appear unwilling to take.

There have been some Indian Olympians who have boxed professionally. Johnny Nuttall (12-17-2, 2 KOs) and Mac Joachim (12-9-2, 2 KOs) boxed for India at the 1948 games before boxing professionally in the United Kingdom without much success. Vikas Krishan Yadav (3-0, 1 KO), who fought at three separate Olympics, had two fights under the Top Rank banner before going back to the amateur ranks in 2019 (he made a brief comeback to the pros in 2023 with a bout in Russia).

The Case of Vijender Singh

The most well-known example of a former Indian Olympian who fought professionally is Vijender Singh (13-1, 9 KOs). As mentioned earlier in this article, he won bronze at the 2008 Olympics. Among the boxers he defeated to win that medal were Carlos Góngora and Badou Jack. Singh shot to fame because of that bronze, especially because he medalled for a country that does not win that many medals in the Olympics.

With the fame, Singh went on to do a lot of modelling work and got gigs on TV. He has even done some work in Bollywood. It was not until late 2015 that he finally embarked on his professional boxing career, fighting on Queensberry Promotions cards in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Within a year, he was headlining events in Indian stadiums. After not fighting at all in 2018, Singh signed with Top Rank and had two fights in 2019, one in the United States and another in the United Arab Emirates.

While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted many careers, it also saw Singh not fight at all in 2020. It also appears that he was either dropped by Top Rank or had left them, as his next fight saw him back in India fighting on a casino ship in 2021. He wound up getting knocked out in five rounds by Artysh Lopsan, who was only 4-1-1 at the time to Singh’s 12-0. After that, he won a fight in 2022 and has not had a pro bout since.

While he has not officially announced his retirement, it does appear that Singh is done with professional boxing, having not fought since 2022 in addition to being in his late 30s. Given his abilities, it feels as though he did not achieve as much as he could have. Although his Olympic bronze medal gave him immense fame and allowed him to shine a spotlight on boxing in India, it did not spur other Indian Olympians to take the plunge into the pro ranks.

Nishant Dev Signs With Matchroom Boxing

Dev signing with Matchroom Boxing could be the start of something big. It could also not work out at all and he winds up having an awful pro career. However, in a country where Olympic boxers almost never turn pro, this is an opportunity for Dev to set the standard. Having a pro career where he consistently fights a few times a year until he calls it a day is an actual accomplishment given that his counterparts and predecessors almost never do that.

According to a post on his Instagram, Dev is training with American Ronald Simms. He will make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson in The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, NV. The event is promoted by Matchroom Boxing and will air on DAZN.

Based on statements he has made on social media and to Indian news outlets, it appears Dev is serious about staying in the pro ranks. He is 24 and should have many years of boxing ahead of him. While it is still early days, there is reason for optimism as Dev embarks on a new chapter in his career.

Dev is not just some random boxer that Matchroom Boxing have signed. He is one with an opportunity to set a precedent in his country.