The 4 AM Walks That Carried Me From Karnal to New York to Vegas to Saudi Arabia

When I was twelve years old, my father started waking me up at 4 AM.

We lived on our family farm in Karnal, Haryana. It was dark, it was cold in the winters, and I didn’t always want to get up. But he never let me sleep through it. He would walk with me to Karan Stadium, wait while I trained under my coach Surender Chauhan, walk me home, and then do the whole thing again in the evening. Every single day. My father never boxed. It was my uncle, who fought professionally in Germany, whose stories first pulled me toward the sport. But it was my father who saw something in me before I saw it in myself.

On July 25, I walked to the ring at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s return, in front of a global audience watching on DAZN. No Indian boxer had ever fought on a stage like this. As I made that walk, I thought about those other walks. The quiet ones, before sunrise, with my father beside me.

The comeback before the comeback

My journey hasn’t been a straight line. In 2022, an old shoulder injury came back and I needed surgery. Rods in my shoulder. Six months of rehabilitation, watching other boxers compete while I could barely train. There were days I wondered if my body would let me continue. My family kept me positive, and the next year I returned and won a bronze medal at the World Boxing Championships in Tashkent. Standing on that podium, I understood that a setback is only the end of the story if you let it be.

Then came Paris 2024. Leading the Indian Olympic boxing team was the honour of my life. My quarterfinal ended in a decision that broke my heart. Inside the ring I couldn’t even understand what had happened; it only sank in later, in the changing room. I was heartbroken for days. But that loss gave me clarity. I had gone as far as the amateur system could take me, and it was time to chase something no Indian had ever done.

A first for India

Here is a fact that still surprises people: India, a nation of 1.4 billion, has never produced a professional boxing world champion. The four major world titles that define this sport are the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO belts. These are the belts that Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao fought for. Not one of them has ever been worn by an Indian.

I want to change that. That is the whole mission.

In January 2025, I became the first Indian boxer ever signed by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, the promoter behind champions like Canelo Álvarez, Oleksandr Usyk, and Anthony Joshua. My management team, Brian Peters Boxing, guides the career of the great Katie Taylor. I am also an Everlast athlete, which means more to me than any contract. Everlast backs only a handful of fighters, and Ali himself fought in their gear. When people like that believe an Indian kid from Karnal can make history, you start to believe it a little more yourself.

My professional debut came on January 25, 2025, in Las Vegas. It was Republic Day back home, and my father’s birthday. I won by stoppage in the first round and dedicated the victory to both. I couldn’t have scripted it better.

Two brothers, one dream

From the outside, my life probably looks glamorous. Las Vegas fight nights, global broadcasts, big names. The truth is simpler, and harder.

I live in Houston, Texas, with my brother Siddharth. Every day I train under Coach Ronald Simms, who has known me since my amateur days back in India and has become like a second father to me. And then I come home to the person who makes all of it possible. My brother gave up his own studies and career in India to be here with me. Not for a salary, not for credit, but because he believed in this dream as much as I did. Our whole household is me, my brother, and Coach Ron. We cook our own meals. We do the grocery runs. My brother manages my training schedule, my recovery sessions, the hundred small things a world-class boxing camp needs and that we handle by ourselves.

There is no big entourage, no chef, no team of physios waiting at the house. When my body is broken down after sparring, it’s my brother helping me through recovery. When I make weight, it’s because of the food we cooked in our own kitchen. My father lost sleep for me for years in Karnal. Now my brother has put his life on hold for me in Houston. Whatever I achieve in this sport, I did not achieve it alone. This dream belongs to my whole family.

What keeps us going, apart from each other, is our community. At every fight, in Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, I see the tricolour in the crowd. Indian families drive hours to watch me. My Instagram community has grown past 500,000 people after only seven professional fights, and it’s filled with Indians from the US, UK, Canada, and the Gulf who message me saying, “You are fighting for all of us.” I don’t think those numbers are about me. I think they show how hungry our community is for this moment. They are right to be. I am fighting for all of us.

The biggest night yet

That is what I carried with me into Jeddah on July 25. “The Comeback” was Anthony Joshua’s return, a card with two world title fights, staged by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the man who brought Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia, and broadcast around the world. It was one of the biggest boxing events of the year, and I became the first Indian boxer ever to fight on a night like this.

The fight itself did not last long. I put Cesar Diaz down three times, and the referee stopped it before the first round was over. My record moved to 7-0, with five knockouts. When my hand was raised in that huge arena, I said out loud what I have carried quietly for years: no Indian fighter has ever been champion of the world, so I am going to be the one who changes that. And then I found my corner, the small team that got me here, and it felt like Karnal, Houston, and Jeddah were all one place for a moment.

New York, NY, USA: Nishant Dev vs. Josue Silva, Fight Night June 14, 2025, Madison Square Garden Theater. Matchroom Boxing.

Every fight is one more step on the road to that world title. When that night comes, I want every Indian, whether in Karnal, Houston, London, Dubai, or Toronto, to feel like the belt belongs to them too. Because it will. And to this community: your support, in every form, carries two brothers in Houston further than you know. If our journey speaks to you, I would love to hear from you.

Follow Nishant’s journey at @nishantboxer_jr on Instagram, with his fights broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.

Nishant Dev is a professional boxer from Karnal, Haryana, and captained the Indian boxing team at the Paris 2024 Olympics. A World Championships bronze medallist, he is the first Indian boxer signed to Matchroom Boxing and is undefeated as a professional as he pursues his goal of becoming India’s first professional boxing world champion. He lives in Houston, Texas, with his brother Siddharth and his longtime coach, Ronald Simms.