Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain upgraded her 2023 silver into a gold medal, taking down China’s Bao Ziyi Nishio Gymnasium in the women’s 75kg category at the Nishio Gymnasium.
She is the first Indian boxer since Mary Kom in Incheon 2014 to climb the top step of the podium.
The Indian, in the blue corner, threw the first set of punches to unsettle the southpaw early on. However, the 2023 world champion was pinned back to the ropes in the dying moments of the first bout as Bao landed a flurry of punches before the bell went off. That didn’t A split 3-2 verdict awarded the first bout to the Indian.
Lovlina used her jabs and hooks to good effect in the second bout to throw Bao off. The Chinese pugilist, however, kept weaving in in her efforts to land a body blow from close quarters. A cagey affair eventually went Lovlina‘s way via a 4-1 split decision.
Bao, the Asian Championships gold medallist, realising she needed to do something special, went on an attacking spree, but this is where Lovlina’s defensive genius came into the fore.
Lovlina booked her place in the final after defeating Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova 3–2 in a closely fought semifinal.
More to follow…
Published on Oct 02, 2026
