Asian Games 2023: Nikhat Zareen's quarterfinal entry was a study in boxing elegance

India’s Nikhat Zareen, weaving in and out, bobbing on her toes, kept the Korean challenge of Cho Rong Bak away, to enter the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Games. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

A pair of Raging Bulls paid a visit to the Hangzhou Gymnasium, venue of the Asian Games boxing events. Amid blood, gore, spit, flying sweat, it was amateur boxing with all its attractiveness: flying punches, a couple of matadors going at each other irrespective of the cuts around their eyes that had opened like sliced fruit. By the middle of the first round, the arena was abuzz like a 100-megawatt shot of energy.

Yet before all this was grace, coordination, elegance that personifies the best in flyweight boxing when India’s Nikhat Zareen, weaving in and out, bobbing on her toes, kept the Korean challenge of Cho Rong Bak away, entering the quarterfinals.

Before Zareen came on, Jordan’s Hanan Nassar, a ballerina in the guise of a boxer, had the referee stop the fight at the end of the first round. Nassar skipped into the arena, her smile adding wattage to the ring lights. Laos’ Vilayphone was no match. Nassar, danced around her, jabbing away with her better reach. The left-right combinations seemed soft, but they took their toll as the Laotian’s face swelled up: Feint to the left, feint to the right, and out of thin air, the left jab shot out, rocking the Laotian on her heels. This was boxing sweeter than sugar. The punches and combinations flowed effortlessly. Nassar embodied the oohs and aahs of boxing, skimming over the ring surface like a gull at sea, a breeze floating across the arena.

Nikhat Zareen came in, precise, her mind understanding the job. Bak, comes direct. Zareen tip-toed initially, staying out of reach. Coming in early would have given Bak the advantage of getting in a few punches, impressing the judges. None of that from the Indian World Champion. In the middle of the first round, as sweat glistened like silver off Zareen’s shoulders, a left-right combination stopped Bak as she shook her head, clearing the fog away.

Knowing Zareen would reel off points like a deck of cards being riffled on a poker table, Bak came in, defences down to slam a right; that was the Korean’s strength, her only strength.

Zareen wouldn’t commit any error in the second round – a left would rock the Korean. And then in the middle, Zareen, hunkered low, would score off a left-right followed by a right, flush on the jaw. Bak, options running out, came out like a kamikaze warrior. Zareen swayed back on her heels, all elegance, her left, stopping the Korean, once again in her tracks.

Bak had been tamed in the third round. Zareen was hitting her with ease. Dancing all over the court, the Indian didn’t have to do much, a few combinations, and the judges, anyway, had seen enough.

What awaits is a classic quarterfinal, a bout where the sweet science (Nassar) will meet elegance (Zareen), the Arab Games gold medallist taking on the Indian World Champion, a fight of durability, speed, and punching skills. Want to hear Louis Armstrong and Ludwig van Beethoven, all in three rounds, be there.

A contrast: Zeinullinov Yertugan vs Usmonov Bakhodur

Meanwhile, in the fight that embodied the extreme end of the spectrum of boxing, one no less attractive, a cut no matter how deep or bloody must be dealt there and then. Zeinullinov Yertugan, the Kazak, went twice in the second round to the cutman. Adrenalin is the stuff they use – 1:1000 – apply direct pressure on the cut and put the adrenalin in the middle. Then cover it with petroleum jelly so that, pray for it, the punches slide off the surface.

It was predator and prey, all through the three rounds, each becoming the other. After a few second of sussing each other, the 63.5 kg fight opened up. Ullinov pushed the Bakhodur into a corner and opened his defence like he had a cleaver in his hands. The flurry of punches that followed could have been a windmill on steroids; each went for the other till Ullinov bashed in a right that wrenched Bakhodur’s head to the right. A cut above his right eye had opened.

In the second round, the frenetic pace continued. Ullinov whipping in lefts and rights, technically the better boxer, keeping up the pace, it was like running the 800m at the pace of a sprint. The blood from the cut around the Kazakh’s eye was a little stream, running down his cheek. Both fought off the energy of the crowd, who undoubtedly were enjoying the session of the day; a slugfest, taking the punches, right and left, you could almost see the steam rising above the court.

Apart from the fighters, one feels for the judges, such a strong bout, so much power, so little given, yet a decision had to be made, a 3-2 in favour of Zeinullinov Yertugan.

Twice, Yertugan got a standing count, yet he was the last man standing in the bout. Two-time Olympic Champion Nicola Adams once said, “Life is like a boxing match; defeat is declared not when you fall but when you refuse to stand again.”