Who is Neeraj Goyat? Indian boxer who won the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight

In the backdrop of the much-awaited fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, India's Neeraj Goyat made the country proud on the international stage. While the boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson made international headlines, India too had a player to cheer for the event. There were three undercard bouts before the main card fight between Paul and Tyson. In one of them, 33-year-old Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat defeated Brazilian YouTuber and comedian Whinderson Nunes in a six-round super middleweight bout.

Goyat defeated Nunes by unanimous decision (59–55, 60–54 X2) in a six-round bout slightly over the middleweight limit.

However, Goyat – who hails from Haryana – has a distinguished boxing pedigree, and has achieved many achievements as an Indian boxer.

Born in Begumpur, Haryana, Goyat started boxing relatively late, in 2006 at the age of 15, when he was in class 10. Goyat grew up in the sport, idolizing former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

As an amateur boxer, Goyat became the first Indian to attempt the 2016 Summer Olympics qualifiers in Venezuela, but ultimately missed by a narrow margin. He also won bronze at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games.

However, as a professional boxer, Goyat has become the first Indian to be ranked by the WBC (World Boxing Council). He also became the WBC Asian Champion for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.

Goyat has a professional boxing record of 18 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws in 24 bouts.

Goyat was scheduled to face double WBC champion Amir Khan in a boxing match, but had to pull out after suffering injuries to his head, face and left arm following a car accident.

Calling Jake Paul and KSI

In late 2023, Goyette repeatedly called out Jake Paul for not fighting more famous boxers, and a match between the two was also rumored to be a possibility. Goyat signed a contract with Most Valuable Promotions, the same boxing promotion company as Paul, but reportedly the fight between them could only take place after Paul's bout with Tyson.

Meanwhile, Goyette also called out British YouTuber KSI for a boxing match.

Before the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, Goyette bet his house of over US$1 million (Rs 8.4 crore) on Tyson defeating Paul.

The undercard events begin on Saturday, November 16 at 6:30 AM IST.