As the fighting pride of India and a world title hopeful, meet future phenomenon Nishant Dev who could go on to be one of the biggest stars in the sport of boxing.
Dev could well be the first ever Indian world boxing champion, with the former Olympian making waves in the professional game after turning pro in January 2025.
Who Is Nishant Dev?
Nishant Dev is a 24-year-old professional boxer signed to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Standing at 6″1 tall, Dev made his pro debut in January 2025 and currently competes in the super-welterweight/light-middleweight (154-pounds) division.
He is already one of the most followed boxers on Instagram with 198,000+ followers, and is widely regarded as a future star of boxing.
At just 24-years-old and having had just three pro fights to date, Dev will have a long and fruitful career in the sport for the next 10-15 years.
Dev’s nickname is ‘The Devastator’, which he has used for his entire professional career to date.
The potential future star took up boxing at the age of 12 back in 2012, inspired by his uncle who himself was a pro boxer.
He has admitted that during his amateur career and as a teenager, Dev was woken at 4.00am by his father to ensure he was training hard.
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Where Is Nishant Dev From?
Born and raised in Karnal, Haryana, Nishant Dev is looking to become the first Indian world boxing champion in history.
The 24-year-old studied at OPS Vidya Mandir and later attended Babu Anant Ram Janta College in Kaul. Before taking up boxing at 12-years-old, Dev was a nationally recognised skater.
Although unconfirmed, Dev reportedly still lives with his parents and brother in Karnal, India when he isn’t in training camp in America.
Dev’s father, Dev Pawan Kumar, has supported his son’s boxing journey ever since he began the sport. Dev’s mother, Priyanka Dev, is a homemaker.
Given the fact he is a professional athlete now trains in America and spends a lot of time in the US, he may well take up permanent residence there in the near future.
However, Dev is Indian through and through and represents India with pride in the professional boxing ranks.
Nishant Dev Record
Nishant Dev’s professional boxing record is 3-0 as of today. Of his three wins, two have come by way of knockout.
The Indian boxer made his professional debut in January 2025, featuring on the undercard of Diego Pacheco vs Steven Nelson at the Chelsea Ballroom in Las Vegas, USA.
Dev won his pro debut via emphatic knockout inside one round (see video), becoming the first man to defeat Alton Wiggins in the process.
His second professional fight came in June 2025, this time winning via decision after six rounds of action. Dev won every round en route to a 60-54 unanimous decision victory over Josue Silva on the Richardson Hitchins vs George Kambosos Jr undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Dev’s third professional outing came one month later in July 2025, this time winning via knockout again. The 24-year-old stopped LaQuan Evans in the sixth and final round on the Jesse Rodriguez vs Phumelela Cafu undercard.
Now, Nishant Dev’s next fight is just around the corner as he faces Juan Carlos Campos Medina on the Lenier Pero vs Jordan Thompson undercard in Orlando, Florida.
Nishant Dev Fighting Style
Transitioning from the amateurs to the pro game isn’t easy in boxing. Although the same sport, both disciplines are completely different in so many regards.
Not all elite amateurs go on to be exceptional professionals, and this works the other way too. Some very average amateurs who won next to nothing have gone on to make huge waves in the pro ranks.
For Nishant Dev, he will be hoping to be one of the boxers who has amateur pedigree and turns that into a standout professional career too.
The 24-year-old is an exciting prospect, fighting out of the southpaw stance. From his handful of pro fights to date, it is evident that Dev likes to keep his hands relatively high in a bladed stance.
With a couple of knockouts under his belt, Dev evidently has great power in his fists. His jab is exceptional too, using it very actively as both a range-finder and weapon to both the head and body.
His footwork looks tidy, as does his head movement. Dev’s weight transfer looks solid on both feet, especially whilst moving his head. This ultimately helps Dev develop power in his shots whilst proactively throwing.
Dev’s distance control is solid, as is his counter-punching and cutting off of the ring. His overall ring IQ is solid and he certainly has all the attributes to go a long way as a pro. If he also has a solid chin, he could well make it all the way to the very top.
As Dev continues to develop, it will become apparent exactly the style he is trying to adopt.
Where Does ‘The Devastator’ Train?
Nishant Dev currently trains in America under the tutelage of experienced coach Ronald Simms.
Simms’ gym is in Texas, which is where the 24-year-old trains, spars and prepares for his upcoming fights. A lot of Dev’s training takes place between Houston and San Antonio.
So far, Dev’s training experience in the US has been totally transformative. The opportunity to spar with American and European fighters on a regular basis has helped sharpen Dev as an all-round fighter.
In an interview ahead of his professional debut, Dev revealed his feelings on training away from home in California and how that has impacted him as a fighter:
“There is a big change in mentality. The mentality of US and European boxers is much superior to Indian boxers. There are a lot of changes in training as well. Since there are more rounds compared to amateur, you have to put more effort,” Dev said.
“There is no time limit. You can train whenever. If you feel that you are lacking something in the middle of the night, then the boxers with superior mentality wake up in the middle of the night and go for training,” he added.
Although Nishant Dev is only beginning his professional boxing journey, many fans are tipping him to go on to climb to the very top of the pound-for-pound boxing rankings in years to come.
Nishant Dev Amateur Record
As an amateur boxer, Nishant Dev has a total of 32 licensed bouts. Of these 32 contests, the Indian star won 25 and lost just even.
In the early days, Dev trained under coach Surendra Chauhan at Karan Stadium back in his home of India.
Dev made significant strikes in domestic boxing, winning a gold medal at the 2021 National Championships in Karnataka and a bronze at the 2023 National Boxing Championships in Haryana.
Dev reached the quarter-finals of the AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Serbia in 2021, debuting internationally for India.
The 24-year-old was unable to compete in both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2021 due to injury and bone marrow dislocation in his shoulder.
However, Dev bounced back in style and secured his first international medal at the 2023 IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent where he won bronze.
Dev missed out on his first opportunity at making the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, losing a controversial split decision to America’s Omari Jones in Italy.
However, Dev still managed to secure his Olympic spot by virtue of winning four fights at the World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 in Bangkok.
He officially booked his place at the 2024 Paris Olympics by defeating Moldova’s Vasile Cebotari 5-0 in the men’s 71kg quarter-finals.
Nishant Dev Olympic Record
At the 2024 Olympic Games, Dev won one fight and lost one. This means his Olympic record stands at 1-1 currently, but may well improve if he opts to return to the amateurs for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Dev won a 3-2 split decision over Ecuador’s Jose Rodriguez in the first round, before losing controversially in the quarter-finals.
The fighting pride of India was narrowly defeated by Mexico’s Marco Verde, consequently denying Dev an Olympic medal. Dev decided to turn professional following the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
What Is Being Said About Nishant Dev On Social Media?
Although Nishant Dev is still a relative novice in the pro ranks, it’s fair to say there is a lot of hype surrounding him.
Boxing fans can be both very critical and full of praise at times, but it seems the vast majority of fans have been impressed with ‘The Devastator’ so far.
Former world champion Ray Ford is one fellow pro who has been full of praise for Dev. ‘Savage’ is highly impressed by the Indian boxing star, both inside and outside of the ring.
Inside the ring, Ford is impressed by Dev’s jab, footwork, adaptability and ring generalship. Outside of the ropes, Ford has praised Dev as a funny, all-round great person with good music taste.
Nishant Dev has got the @raysavage856 approval out in Houston 🤝
Day in the Life on India's Olympian now living in America 🎞️
Watch: https://t.co/dj94avxPoB pic.twitter.com/6FuUwUtpCV
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 28, 2025
Another man full of praise for Dev is his promoter. Eddie Hearn signed Dev prior to his professional debut after being impressed by the Indian boxer at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hearn’s net worth is estimated at £50m+ as of today, and the powerful British boxing promoter is investing some of his fortune into Dev, who he feels can ‘transcend India’.
Great win for Nishant Dev on debut. This young man can change the sport forever in 🇮🇳 https://t.co/81xMRQN9VS
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) January 26, 2025
There has been limited negativity towards Dev, which is to be expected. No matter who you are, there will always be some people trying to bring you down.
Given Dev’s stardom, there will always be some fans highly critical of the 24-year-old. This is to be expected as a professional athlete of course, but the positivity is far louder than the negativity towards ‘The Devastator’.
underwhelming and uninspiring performance by nishant dev, this mf is supposed to be the india’s next breakout star and failed to knockout a bum mexican journeyman with three losses on his record. another anshul jubli. pic.twitter.com/UOfxtAtx2P
— ਚੋਬਰ 𓃮 (@chdaltacc) June 15, 2025
It remains to be seen just how far Dev can go. He has voiced his aim of becoming world champion within four years, which would be an incredible achievement.
This is only the beginning of the Nishant Dev journey and there is a long way to go yet. Buckle up!
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