World Boxing Cup Finals: Top of the medal tally, but is India really on top of the world?

Indian boxers delivered a dominant performance at the 2025 World Boxing Cup Finals at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida, winning medals in all 20 weight categories.

India’s women boxers, long regarded as the country’s strongest unit, claimed seven gold medals, led by names such as Nikhat Zareen, Minakshi Hooda.

Remarkably, the men’s contingent also stood on the podium in all 10 categories, including two gold medals.

This was especially surprising given that just two months ago, the men had returned empty-handed from the World Championships in Liverpool.

However, when viewed in the broader context, the results may not indicate significant global progress for India.

A depleted field, the presence of several second-string teams, and the lack of ranking points contributed to lowering the overall standard of what is typically a high-profile event—factors that may have boosted India’s medal tally.

Lack of entries

The World Boxing Cup Finals, billed as a season-ending tournament featuring the world’s top eight boxers in each category, could not assemble full-strength lineups.

Instead of the expected 160 entries, the event featured only 109. Only two men’s weight categories (70 kg and 90 kg) had the complete set of eight participants.

As a result, 11 Indian boxers were guaranteed a medal even before stepping into the ring, receiving byes in their opening bouts.

Some categories witnessed especially low participation: the women’s 75 kg and 80 kg divisions had only three entrants each, giving boxers like India’s Pooja Rani (80 kg) a direct passage to the final.

Notably, Brazil, China, Ireland, and Turkiye, countries that collectively won 15 medals at the recent World Championships, did not field a single boxer.

Second-string teams

Boxing powerhouses Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan did participate, but both opted to send younger squads, effectively their second- or third-string teams. To illustrate, all 13 boxers from these two nations who won world titles in Liverpool were absent in India.

Only four reigning world champions competed at this event, and two of them, Minakshi Hooda and Jaismine Lamboria, were Indian.

The low turnout was largely due to countries choosing to rest their best boxers ahead of a packed 2026 calendar, which includes the Asian Championships and Asian Games.

Additionally, the tournament offered only 300 ranking points for the champion, equivalent to what a boxer could gain simply by reaching the quarterfinals of the World Championships.

The Positives

Despite the diluted field, the event offered India valuable opportunities. The national team used the tournament to test new combinations, assess depth, and understand areas needing improvement ahead of next year’s major competitions.

The event also marked the return of key Indian boxers such as Preeti Pawar, Parveen Hooda and Arundhati Choudhary, each of whom made the most of their comeback by winning gold. Preeti and Parveen secured particularly confidence-boosting victories against world medallists.

While circumstances clearly favoured India, the medals still reflect the country’s growing potential. The challenge now is to avoid complacency and treat the tournament as a stepping stone towards bigger, more competitive international events.