Indian boxer Nishant Dev, who featured in the 2024 Paris Olympics and is an Amateur World Championship medalist, turned to professional boxing on Friday.
The 24-year-old signed with Matchroom Boxing and will debut at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on January 25 on the bill topped by the super middleweight clash between Steve Nelson and Diego Pacheco.
Nishant won the bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, but he lost in the quarterfinals of the Paris Games to Mexico’s Marco Verde.
Former pro boxer Ronald Simms is training him in Las Vegas.
“I’m very excited to be joining Matchroom and beginning my professional career in Las Vegas on January 25,” Dev said on Instagram.
“My goal is to become India’s first-ever world professional boxing champion, and I know I have a whole nation behind me to help me achieve this. I’m working hard every day with my trainer Ronald Simms. I know I have the right team behind me and the biggest promoter in the world to ensure that I reach the very top of the sport,” his post read further.
Reflecting on his amateur career, he wrote, “I enjoyed my time as an amateur boxer and competed at the very highest level in the Olympics and (won) a World Championship medal, but now I’m ready for this new chapter in my career. The journey to the world championship starts in Las Vegas on January 25.”
Nishant joins Olympic medalist Vijender Singh in the list of Indian Olympian boxers turning professional.
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