New Delhi: It was contrasting emotions for Nupur Sheoran and Pooja Rani following their first World Boxing Championships medal. Nupur could not stop grinning on her return, while Pooja, the Indian contingent\u2019s senior most member, was calm and measured. The sense of having finally achieved a medal she believed was long overdue influenced her response.<\/p>\n
![\"THE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/THE-WORLD-BOXING-CHAMPIONSHIPS-WERE-HELD-AT-THE-M-_1758132672997.jpg\" "\\"THE")
THE WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE HELD AT THE M&S ARENA IN LIVERPOOL FROM 4TH TO 14TH SEPTEMBER 2025. IT IS A NEW ADDITION TO THE ELITE INTERNATIONAL BOXING CALENDAR AND WILL BE PART OF THE WORLD BOXING COMPETITION SERIES DEVELOPED BY WORLD BOXING, THE NEW INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION WHICH HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED TO ENSURE BOXING REMAINS AT THE HEART OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT. (ANDY CHUBB) <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been 16 years. That\u2019s a lifetime in boxing,\u201d Pooja, 34, began, trying to put her 80kg Worlds bronze in perspective. In a career that has seen her become a continental powerhouse \u2014 she is a four-time Asian Championships medallist, including two gold medals \u2014 the World Championships podium always remained a tantalising tease.<\/p>\n
Through all her injuries and setbacks, through the ebbs and flows that mark an athlete\u2019s life, a world medal had remained an unfulfilled target, causing upheaval within. Not anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to put words to these emotions. I am 34 now, and this was my fourth World Championships. I would have given up had I failed. To finally have this medal feels surreal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There are no such heartfelt ruminations for Nupur. The 26-year-old, fresh from an 80kg-plus silver medal from Liverpool, is giddy with happiness like a teenager, relieved that the weight of a legacy has finally begun to feel less like punishment.<\/p>\n
Sitting underneath a giant portrait of her great grandfather Hawa Singh \u2014 a two-time Asian Games gold medallist and among the earliest Indian boxing stalwarts \u2014 Nupur said the enduring legacy had weighed her down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a torture,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI have never feared an opponent in my life, but each time I step in the ring, I feel his (Hawa Singh\u2019s) legacy dragging me down. I hope it changes now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nupur lost to Poland\u2019s Agata Kaczmarska 2-3 in the final of the non-Olympic +80kg class, a bout in which she felt she had her chances. \u201cThe regret of missing gold far outweighs the delight of winning silver. I think I didn\u2019t read her properly,\u201d Nupur said.<\/p>\n
Standing at 6\u20191\u201d, Nupur was drawn closer by Kaczmarska, who successfully evaded her punches and dished out punishment of her own. \u201cI feel I went too close to her. I should have stuck to my style. I have learned my lesson and will put it to use next time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pooja and Nupur\u2019s medals follow their success at the World Boxing Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan where Pooja bagged silver and Nupur won gold. The two heavyweights feel their recent success is a result of targetted attention on weight divisions that are not India\u2019s known strengths.<\/p>\n
For Pooja, who will possibly switch back to the 75kg Olympic class later, assessing the opponent takes precedence over technical perfection. \u201cI think adaptability is one of my strengths. You have to be able to read your opponent and alter your gameplan because at international level, there\u2019s precious little that differentiates us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worlds medal done, Pooja now has LA 2028 on her radar. With the Olympics three years away, she will have to work extra hard to stay agile, besides stepping down a weight class.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still time but I feel I will be ready. This medal has given my career a fresh lease.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two boxers will be next in action at the World Boxing Cup Final in New Delhi later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Delhi: It was contrasting emotions for Nupur Sheoran and Pooja Rani following their first World Boxing Championships…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[79970,79971,703,49,48,49753,17518,82,50797],"class_list":["post-150951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-80kg-bronze","tag-asian-championships-medallist","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nupur-sheoran","tag-pooja-rani","tag-sports","tag-world-boxing-championships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}