Press Trust of India
Dublin, Nov 8: Boxer Vijender Singh continued his sensational foray into professional boxing with a second successive knockout triumph, demolishing England’s Dean Gillen in the first round itself in a bout played here Saturday evening.
The 30-year-old, who had clinched a technical knockout (TKO) against another Englishman Sonny Whiting in his debut bout, was in rampaging form yet again as he finished off Gillen just over two minutes into the contest.
Walking in to the beats of live ‘dhols’, Vijender looked supremely confident as he measured up Gillen in the first 20-30 seconds of the fight. With a deadly right straight, the former Olympic bronze-medallist had the Brit down on the mat quite early in the fight.
Gillen somehow managed to gather himself to fight a tad bit longer but that was just not enough against the nimble-footed Vijender, who managed to corner Gillen with a flurry of combination, throwing him on the ropes.
The assault was just too much for the 33-year-old part-time fire-fighter, who did not get up after going down for a second time.
Vijender’s next bout is scheduled for December 19, the opponent for which would be announced later. “He’s been sparring with a lot of good lads. He’s improving all the time. We’ll have a week off, he may go home and then it’s back to training November 19,” said Vijender’s British trainer Lee Beard.
“I am very happy with my performance in the second professional fight of my career. I have just performed as per the tactics and whatever I have learnt in the last two months from (Lee) Beard. This win is a Diwali gift for my country and fans,” Vijender said after the fight.
Vijender dished out a number of hard punches, the moment the bell rang in the first round. His first uppercut which connected, shook up Gillen considerably as the British fighter looked wobbly on his knees. The taller Gillen had never expected such an onslaught from the beginning and looked a bit shaken at Vijender’s aggressive intent.
Seeing that his opponent was in a state of confusion, Vijender went on a relentless attack. Even though he missed a few punches, the ones that landed had a telling effect on Gillen. He tried his best to ward of Vijender, by going into a couple of clinches, but there was no respite for him. He finally took the mat for the second time as a double right followed by a left hook had a deadly effect.