In seventh heaven: Vijender Singh smashes Kerry's 'Hope' to clinch WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title

SINGH IS KING!!

Congratulations @boxervijender on winning the WBO Asia title! #RingKaKing 

— Mohammad Kaif (@KaifSays) July 16, 2016

#SinghvsHope. Great performance by @boxervijender. He fought hard and deserved to win

— Varun JUNAID dhawan (@Varun_dvn) July 16, 2016

“Thank you India. I didn’t expect it to go to ten rounds. We have been working hard for this. Finally, we did it and we will work to improve my ranking now," says Vijender.

Vijender wins the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title with a score of  98-92, 98-92 and 100-90

Referee's time to declare Vijender the winner. Star-studded crowd stands up in appreciation.

The host announces the score and it's Vijender who has triumphed by a unanimous decision of the judges

The referee hasn't yet declared the winner but the arena knows that it's the Indian who has punched his way to glory

Vijender Singh has done it! He has won the bout against Hope.

Vijender stays calm as he knows that he is well ahead of Hope and lets the Australian do all the attacking

Hope upper-cuts one but misses

Hope manages to land one on the face of Vijender first up

It's the 10th and ultimate round

The round ends with the two wrestlers coming together on a couple of occasions. Last round beckons

Now the India smashes Hope, the Australian retaliates but Vijender ducks to safety

Vijender hasn't fought for so long in his pro boxing career but he looks more than charged up to fight for some more rounds

But it's still not over as Round 9 is underway

Vijender rules round 8

Round 8 starts

Hope holds his own trying to get close to Vijender and that's the end of the round

It's round 7

Vijender totally dominates Hope in this round and at the end of it ,he almost knocked his opponent down but Hope manages to stay on his feet

This time Vijender corners Hope and lands another punch on his opponent

Again Hope messes up with his guard and allows Vijender to land a punch on his face

Sixth round starts

Vijender gets on top of Hope again before the bell rings for the fifth round. It looks like Hope has a cut under his right eye.

Vijender immediately slams one into Hope, the Australian was caught unawares

Fifth round is underway

Fourth round ends

Hope is throwing some aggressive punches but till now Vijender hasn't dropped his guard. 

Vijender pins Hope to a corner but loses his footing for the second time in the match

Fourth round starts

Hope, for the first time looked a little confident aa Vijender fails to get enough from this round

Hope finding it difficult to breach Vijender's defence, the crowd is right behind the Indian

Third round starts

Vijender lands a couple of power packed punches on Hope to end round two

Vijender misses a punch and falls on the ground but gets up immediately

Second round is underway

And that's the end of the first round

Both the boxers holding their guard up, trying to block anything that comes their way but Vijender breaches Hope's defence to land a punch on his face

The bell rings and they are off.

Time for the national anthem of Australia, followed by India's

Vijender Singh draped in an Indian tri-coloured gown marches towards the ring. The capacity crowd goes crazy.

Kerry Hope enters the arena, looking confident, exhibiting some shadow punches.

Vijender Singh is getting ready for the fight as his trainers tape his hand

Virender Sehwag says he is pretty sure that Vijender Singh will win this bout via a knock out just like his previous six pro boxing encounters

It's time for the fight of the night. It's Vijender Singh versus Kerry Hope. 

Siddharth Verma powers over Dilbagh Thakran (80-73, 79-73, 77-75​) in an eight-round battle

This is what's at stake! @boxervijender & Kerry Hope are getting ready to fight for this title. #SinghvsHope pic.twitter.com/A6H19Nsc3Y

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 16, 2016

Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi is jam packed. Everyone waiting for the mega fight between Vijender Singh and kerry Hope

Wishing all the very best to @boxervijender. You will surely make our nation proud. #RingKaKing

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 16, 2016

Now it's time for Dilbagh Thakran  versus Siddharth Verma

Nengneihat beats Boichong

Next up is the women's encounter between Boichong and Nengneihat. They are from Mary Kom's academy.

Sanjeev Sahota wins his bout against Vikas Lohan 40-37, 40-36, 40-37​

Next one is an all Indian fight between Vikas Lohan and Sanjeev Sahota

Kuldeep Dhanda of India beats Vichayan Khamon of Thailand 60-52, 60-55, 60-53 in the first encounter of the evening. 

Good luck brother @boxervijender. You will surely make our nation proud. #RingKaKing

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) July 16, 2016

Vijender Singh's fight with Kerry Hope will be the last action of the night.

The fight night will feature seven other undercard bouts, comprising boxers from the Indian Boxing Council's stable and two Thai invites. 

Dilli me baarish ho rahi hai,
Aaj shaam Dilli me Mukkon ki Baarish karne ki puri koshish karunga.
Bas aap aa jaana pic.twitter.com/KWVLSjbzoJ

— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) July 16, 2016

Here are the first six bouts of Vijender's pro boxing career.

This will be a 10-round bout. A victory will ensure Vijender entry to the top 15 of the WBO world ranking.