Press Trust of India
Manchester, Oct 10: Vijender Singh made a smashing professional boxing debut by knocking out Britain’s Sonny Whiting in the middleweight category here Saturday, ruthlessly demolishing the man, who promised to put him through ‘hell’ at the Manchester Arena here.
Vijender won the contest with a few seconds left in the third of the four-round bout via technical knockout (TKO), pushing Whiting literally on to the ropes and smacking him with a combination of jabs and uppercuts before the referee stepped in to stop the contest.
Strolling in confidently to the beats of Punjabi songs, the 29-year-old hardly looked a debutant as he got down to business against Whiting. In fact, it was Whiting, who looked timid and unsure of what to do against the clinical Indian.
Nimble-footed and precise, Vijender used his long reach to full advantage against his 26-year-old rival, who is himself merely four-bouts old in the pro circuit.
“Thanks to all my fans. My next fight will be October 30 in Harrow, enjoy it. It’s new for me but I’ve been working hard. It’ going well, I want to win again! This is just the beginning,” said the Haryana-lad after a resounding start to his pro career.
Vijender treaded cautiously to start with, taking a measure of Whiting in the opening three minutes. In the second round, he grew more aggressive with a flurry of punches. And in the third, he completely outboxed White with precision jabs that made the Brit go wobbly in the knees.