Watch: How Auto Driver’s Daughter Minakshi Hooda Punched Through Poverty to Become World Champion

At 24, Minakshi Hooda from Rohtak scripted history by becoming world champion in the women’s 48kg category at the 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool. Her journey began far from the arena — in the back of a rented autorickshaw.

The youngest of four siblings, Minakshi grew up watching her father, Srikrishan, toil as an auto-rickshaw driver. Poverty shadowed every step. Her father worried not about her talent, but about the cost: “How would I afford a specialised diet or equipment?”

Yet her mother’s quiet determination, paired with coach Vijay Hooda’s belief, changed everything. At age 12, Minakshi joined a local boxing academy run by Vijay. He spotted her raw talent, bought her first kit, ensured she had the diet she needed, and persuaded her hesitant father to let her train. 

Once Srikrishan saw his daughter in the ring, there was no turning back. He ferried her daily, borrowed money for tournaments, and stood ringside as her loudest supporter. Over time, her early successes — sub-junior wins, a Khelo India School Games title, Youth Nationals gold in 2019 — showed that the investment was paying off.

Climbing the ranks

Minakshi moved up through the categories. In 2021, she earned silver in the senior national championships. In 2022, she won silver at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in the 52kg flyweight division. Later, she switched down to the 48kg class.

She also secured national titles in 2023 and 2024, including defeating acclaimed boxers such as Nitu Ghanghas. The switch to 48kg, though non-Olympic, gave her a chance to cement her dominance in that weight class. 

In Liverpool, Minakshi defeated Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan — a multiple-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist — by a 4-1 split decision to win the gold in women’s 48kg. 

“Becoming a world champion was my dream,” she says. “I’ve achieved it, and this is just the beginning.”

For a girl who once travelled daily in a rented auto to train, whose father worried over every rupee spent, Minakshi’s journey shows what unfolds when talent meets support, discipline and belief. Her victory isn’t just a personal triumph — it offers a beacon for young girls from small towns: it’s possible to reach the very top on the global stage.

Edited by Khushi Arora