On 4th June 2023, the town of Gohana in Haryana witnessed a spectacular afternoon of professional boxing, organized by Arun Memorial Boxing Promotions. The event featured 10 bouts, with nine boxers making their pro debut and three of them emerging victorious.
The highlight of the show was the clash between Akshay Chahal (8-0) and Saurabh Sanjay (3-1) . The fight was a close and exciting affair, with both boxers trading punches and showing their skills. Akshay Chahal, who is the older brother of former women’s junior national champion and international amateur boxer Gargi Chahal, had a slight edge over his opponent in terms of speed and accuracy. He was leading on all three judges’ scorecards after six rounds, when Saurabh Sanjay decided to quit the fight and refused to come out for the seventh round. The referee declared Akshay Chahal the winner by technical decision.
Akshay Chahal expressed his happiness and gratitude after the fight, saying that he dedicated his victory to his sister Gargi, who also made her pro debut on the same night and won by a Split decision against Jyoti Shamsher. He also thanked his fans and supporters for their encouragement and said that he was ready to face any challenge in the future.
The other bouts of the night were also entertaining and action-packed, with six of them ending in knockouts in the first round. The two women’s bouts were especially impressive, with Shivani Raghav and Muskan Verma fighting to a split draw decision and Neha Jangra overcoming a stern test posed by Anjali Rohtesh by a Unanimous decision.
The event was sanctioned by the Indian Boxing Council (IBC), the national commission for professional boxing in India. The IBC president Brigadier PKM Raja congratulated all the boxers and promoters for putting up a great show and said that he hoped to see more such events in the future. He also said that the IBC was working hard to improve the standards and rankings of professional boxing in India and to provide more opportunities and exposure to the boxers.
