Mumbai: The legend of Vijender Singh continued to grow as the Indian boxing star outslugged his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali in a close bout to annex the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title here Saturday. The three judges awarded the fight 96-94, 95-94, 95-94 unanimously to the Indian boxer.
It was double delight for the fans as Vijender also snatched the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title from the Chinese, who is nine years younger to him. It was the 32-year-old Beijing Olympic bronze medallist’s ninth successive win in his professional career.
In front of a partisan crowd, Vijender gave an exhibition of his class during the slugfest, and his oodles of experience came in handy during 10 intense rounds.
“I didn’t expect him to fight so well and last the distance. He surprised me,” said Vijender after the bout. “I want to give back this belt to Zulpikar. I hope for peace in the border and the message is about peace. That is most important than any belt,” Vijender added.
Using his height and greater reach to good effect, Vijender most of the time had the better of exchanges with his straight ones and hooks landing flush on Zulpikar, whose blows didn’t have the desired effect.
The Chinese southpaw had his guard up most of the times and with a crouched stance, was relying mostly on the uppercuts.
Meanwhile among other Indians Beijing Olympics quarterfinalists Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar made perfect starts to their professional career with technical knockouts (TKO) of their respective opponents. Akhil defeated Australia’s Ty Gilchrist in the junior welterweight category while Jitender overcame Thanet Likhitkam-porn of Thailand in the lightweight category.
Agencies
