VIJENDER ON CLOUD NINE
WALL BREACHED Indian ace overcomes aggressive Maimaitiali on points, delivers political message to China
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Vijender's victory extended his pro career record to nine wins out of nine.
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Vijender now holds two belts – he retained the WBO Asia-Pacific super middleweight and took the WBO Oriental super middleweight belt from his Chinese rival.
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Vijender’s points win on Saturday followed seven knockouts and one unanimous decision.
I want to give back this belt to Zulpikar. I hope for peace on the border and the message is about peace. That is most important. VIJENDER, after the win
MUMBAI: Vijender Singh extended his unbeaten run in his professional career to nine bouts on Saturday after the Harayana boxer defeated China’s Zulpikar Maimaitiali on points to retain his WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title and claim his opponent’s WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt at the National Sports Club of India here on Saturday. For the jam-packed crowd, there couldn’t have been a better show. Their favourite was down on the floor at least five times, his nose was bleeding and he had endured a couple of low blows. Yet, he had enough in him to topple an aggressive boxer like Maimaitiali.
The Chinese southpaw was on the offensive right from the bell and landed his punches, proving his pre-match warning to Vijender was not mere build-up hype.
It was champion stuff from the 23-year-old and Vijender, 31, looked drained at the end of the seventh round in the 10-round contest. Vijender’s jabs earned him points but Maimaitiali seemed well aware of every trick the Olympian had in his bag. He dodged quite a few hooks, defended the jabs well and unleashed thundering punches at will.
Vijender too admitted at the end of the fight that he wasn’t prepared to go beyond six-seven rounds.
“I didn’t expect this fight,” he said. “I thought this would last for a max 5-6 rounds, hence I didn’t fight according to my strategy.” But Vijender’s trainer Lee Beard had stated on Friday that the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist had the experience to carve out a victory even when it seemed he was far from it. After assessing Maimaitiali’s initial rounds where the southpaw hardly showed restraint, Vijender went all out at every given opportunity.
The combination punches landed well, bringing the crowd on to their feet.
From traditional cuss words to patriotic songs and sloganeering, the crowd hurled everything at Vijender’s every successful jab. Maimaitiali will, however, rue the few unintentional low blows. After all, with a scoreline of 96-96, 95-94 and 95-94 from the three judges, the docked points were bound to leave an impact.
AKHIL WINS ON DEBUT
Olympians Jitender Kumar and Akhil Kumar got to a flying start in their professional boxing career, defeating their opponents in just two rounds via technical knockouts. Jitender was the first to enter the ring and the crowd, gradually growing in number, sprang to its feet.
From Jo bole so nihal to Bharat Mata ki Jai, the audience ensured the 29-year-old was assured of a grand welcome. However, he could have perhaps done without it as well. The lightweight (61.2kg) bout lasted all but two rounds before the referee adjudged that Thanet Likhitkamporn, his opponent, wasn’t in a condition to carry on.
It was the same story for Arjuna award winner Akhil Kumar whose opponent Ty Gilchrist pointed to his abdomen before retiring. Akhil started the junior welterweight (63.5kg) clash on a defensive note, not rushing in, and contrary to his style, keeping his guard up. However, old habits die hard and before long Akhil had switched to his open stance, waiting for Gilchrist to have a go at him. He landed quite a few quick punches.
Akhil got a cut above his left eyebrow but that only charged him up. A few quick punches at the start of the second round gave him a boost while the writing was on the wall for his opponent. Still, none would have thought it would end in an anti-climax.
In the other fights too, Indians dominated in style with Asad Asif, Kuldeep Dhanda and Dharmendra Grewal all winning their respective bouts.