The Indian boxer probably had his toughest bout till date and continues his unbeaten streak
He stepped into the ring wearing one belt, left the square proudly wearing two.
Vijender Singh eked out a unanimous decision win over China’s Zulpikar Maimaitiali that saw him not only defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title but also snatch the latter’s WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title at the NSCI in Mumbai on Saturday.
In what turned out to be a thrilling 10-round contest, the judges called it 96-93, 95-95 and 95-94 in Vijender’s favour.
Vijender's performance, however, was far from impressive. The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist took a lot of beating from Maimaitiali, who took full advantage of his southpaw stance.
The 31-year-old was also floored on a number of occasions. But, a share of blame could be put to his opponent’s dirty tactics. Maimaitiali targeted Vijender’s lower abdominal area in Round 3, forcing the referee to step in and serve a warning.
Undeterred, the Chinese pugilist did the same in Round 4, 6 and 9, evoking boos and chants of “cheater cheater” from a partisan crowd.
Yet, the local star maintained his composure and landed a few power punches on his 23-year-old opponent.
A massive hook from Vijender followed a cross in Round 4. Keeping a measure of Maimaitiali with his left jab, he managed to get in close range and unleash a flurry of punches.
The crowd got excited, but not for long. In Round 6 Vijender was down on his knees, writhing in pain after being hit on his lower abdomen again.
Negating regular combinations from Vijender, Maimaitiali landed a left cross and a right hook in Round 7 as the former started to bleed from the nose.
Things spiced up towards the end as both the fighters threw in all they had — the occasion clinches to negate exhaustion being no exception.
Maimaitali may have landed a few more punches than his fancied counterpart, but the fact that his points were docked for illegal punches aimed at Vijender’s lower abdomen could be reason behind him losing his belt.
In the lead-up to the fight, Vijender’s coaching staff had said that he’s just 3-4 fights away from a shot at a world title. Critics, though, may argue that despite having tonnes of experience as an amateur, he still has a long way to go before taking on the biggest names in the division.
But, history has seen successful amateurs turn into even more successful professionals. Sure, the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Amir Khan and Anthony Joshua would agree.
As for Maimaitiali, he jumped into the deep end of the pool by squaring-off against a boxer way more experienced than him. But going by the way the Chinese fought on Saturday, he is certainly the one to look out for in the future.
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