India’s Chandni goes down to Korean in WBO Asia-Pacific title bout

New Delhi : Indian pugilist Chandni Mehra went down to Korean Bo Mi Re Shin by a TKO in the 8th round in the WBO Asia-Pacific women’s title fight at Gangwan-do, Korea, on Saturday.

The 20-year-old boxer from Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, took the home favourite and much more fancied 27-year-old Bo Mi Re Shin until the 8th round before the referee stopped the contest.

Chandni, who had suffered the first-ever knockdown of her career in this fight in the 8th round, informed the Indian Boxing Council, which has been handling domestic affairs for Indian professional boxers in collaboration with the World Boxing Council. The IBC has been set up to offer a “pathway for domestic championship success for aspiring professional boxers throughout the region and afford Indian fighters more significant global opportunities, using the WBC India as a platform for development, progression, and inclusion”.

Both Chandni and Bo Mi Re Shin started the fight aggressively with the intent to lay down a marker in the early rounds. This was the first time that Chandni Mehra was fighting in a 10-round fight. It was always an uphill task considering that the Korean had already had fought three 10-rounder bouts before this fight.

The Korean was faster with a wider repertoire of combinations that she could throw. She led with a left hook and followed that up with solid right hooks which almost every time pierced through Chandni’s defences.

The Indian boxer gave a good account of herself in the first six rounds by countering punch-for-punch while standing and delivering blows after blows.

In the 5th round, Chandni looked to have fallen upon a clear game plan to stay on the outside and work on counters. She had some success in the 5th round but, it was quickly negated by the Korean who increased her work rate and target body shots.

Chandni had started tiring after the 6th round and Shi Bo quickly attempted to capitalise with body shots that were causing a lot of damage to Chandni.

Early in the 8th round, the Korean came out all guns blazing. A Left hook followed by a right hook caught Chandni very hard on her chin. Shin Bo followed that with a few more hooks. Chandni dropped to the canvas. This was her first-ever knockdown in her 11 fight pro career.

She was tired and had taken a lot of punishment in the 7th and 8th rounds. A few more seconds into the round, the WBO-appointed referee called an end to the fight and declared the fight in favour of the Korean.

With this loss, Chandni now has a record of eight wins and three defeats in her 11 fight Pro career.