Nikhat Zareen

Nikhat Zareen (born 14 June 1996) is an Indian amateur boxer. She is a two-time world champion having won gold medals at the 2022 and the 2023 edition.

Background Zareen was born on 14 June 1996 to mother Parveen Sultana and father Mohammad Jameel Ahmed in Nizamabad, then part of Andhra Pradesh. She finished her schooling from Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School in Nizamabad. She then pursued Bachelor of Arts at AV College, Hyderabad.

In 2021, Zareen was appointed the staff officer in the Bank of India, zonal office at AC Guards, Hyderabad. In September 2024, she was appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police in Telangana Police.

Career Zareen was introduced to boxing by her father, Mohammad Jameel Ahmed, She was inducted into the Sports Authority of India in Vishakhapatnam to train under Dronacharya awardee, IV Rao in 2009. A year later, she was declared as the 'golden best boxer' at the Erode Nationals in 2010. Zareen was up against Turkish boxer Ulku Demir and after three rounds won the bout 27-16.

She won a silver medal in the Youth World Boxing Championship held in Bulgaria in 2014.

She then won a gold medal at the third Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament held in Novi Sad, Serbia on 12 January 2014. Zareen defeated Paltceva Ekaterina of Russia in the 51 kg weight category.

She won a gold medal at 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship at Assam,

International tournament victories (2016–2022) She won a silver medal at Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament held in Bangkok.

She won a gold medal at Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Zareen defeated Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist 4–1 to clinch a gold medal at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. The women's team was led by coach Bhaskar Bhatt. She also beat Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Buse Naz Çakıroğlu in the semi-finals.

World Boxing Championships & Commonwealth Games (2022–2024) On 19 May 2022, Zareen won the gold medal in the 52 kg category at the Women's World Championship defeating Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas in the fly-weight final in Istanbul, Turkey. Zareen became the fifth Indian women's boxer to win a gold medal at the World Championships, joining Mary Kom, Laishram Sarita Devi, Jenny R. L., and Lekha K. C. She was only the second Indian boxer to win a World Championships Gold Medal abroad (outside India) after M.C. Mary Kom, who did it four times out of her six gold medals.

Zareen won the third gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham after defeating Carly McNaul of Northern Ireland by 5–0 on 7 August 2022 in the 48–50 kg category (light flyweight category).

Nikhat won 2nd world championship gold medal in 2023 New Delhi IBA Women's world boxing championships after defeating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam by 5-0 unanimous decision in the 48–50 kg category on 26 March 2023. She lost the round of 16 bout to Chinese world number 1 Wu Yu in a unanimous defeat of 5–0.

Achievements International Titles Year Place Weight Competition Location 2011 48 AIBA Women's Junior and Youth World Boxing Championship Turkey 2014 45–48 Youth World Boxing Championship Bulgaria 2014 51 Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament Novi Sad, Serbia 2018 51 56th Belgrade International Championship Belgrade, Serbia 2019 51 Asian Championships Bangkok, Thailand 2019 51 Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament Bangkok, Thailand 2019 51 Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament Sofia, Bulgaria 2021 51 Istanbul Bosphorus Boxing Tournament Istanbul, Turkey 2022 51 Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament Sofia, Bulgaria 2022 52 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships Istanbul, Turkey 2022 50 XXII Commonwealth Games Birmingham, England 2023 50 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships New Delhi, India

Brand endorsements In 2018, Zareen signed a brand endorsement deal with Adidas. Zareen is supported by the Welspun group and is included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme of Sports Authority of India.

Awards Nikhat was appointed the official ambassador of her home town Nizamabad, Telangana. Best Boxer in the All India Inter-University Boxing Championship, Jalandhar, Punjab - February 2015 Arjuna Award 2022