Vijender Singh wins WBO Asia pacific and Oriental titles

Vijender Singh kept his unbeaten record safe as Indian boxing star outperformed his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali in an intense battle to retain his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title here on Saturday.

Well, it was a double delight as Vijender also won WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title which was held by his Chinese opponent who was nine years younger than him.

This was Vijender’s ninth successive win in the professional career. In front of his home crowd, Vijender proved why he is on the road to become a new sensation in the world of pro boxing.

The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist’s experience came in handy as the match went on to 10 rounds, Zulpikar was quick and young but Vijender’s good defense proved difficult to break in into. Vijender had earlier commented about his opponent that Chinese products don’t last very long, but after the match, an exhausted Vijender was bound to say,”I didn’t expect him to fight so well and last the distance”.

Vijender’s height and long reach were an advantage in the game as he was able to put up some hefty blows on his opponent. Zulpikar was having his guard up most of the times with a crouched stance. But he was guilty of hitting Vijender below the belt for which he was warned by the referee which cost him 3 points, one from each judge.

However, at the end, Zulpikar proved to be dominant as Vijender was sluggish, tired and younger legs of Zulpikar helped at the end.

There was bonhomie between the opponents as Chinese made Vijender wear his cap, and Vijender also said that he would like to return the title back to Zulpikar in return for peace at the border.

The scores from three judges were 96-93, 95-94, 95-94 in favor of Vijender.

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