Mall-goers audience as APB sets ball rolling

Vikas Krishan assured himself shot at Olympic qualification by beating Kenya's Nickson Abaka in a six-round contest of the AIBA Pro Boxing fight night on Saturday .

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Vikas Krishan triumphed over Nickson Abaka, assuring himself of an extra shot at Olympic qualification. (Source: Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Nickson Abaka was warming up ahead of his APB bout against Vikas Krishan on Saturday evening, when he got a surprise. Abaka’s bout against Krishan, the first of its kind to take place in India, was meant to be held later in the evening, after three undercard fights had been completed.

However two rounds into the first contest of the day, heavy winds began lashing the venue, which was set up outside the Great India Place mall in the Delhi suburb of Noida. Under overcast skies that hinted at rain and with the giant LED screens on which the action was being telecast, buffeted ominously by gusts, the organisers of the event made a decision.

The APB bout was being held ostensibly to give Vikas Krishan, another shot at qualifying for the Rio Olympics. Having already fought an APB bout in Tashkent earlier this year, Krishan needed to compete in another in order to earn a place at the WSB and APB qualifiers to be held in July.

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However, if Saturday’s bout was rained out before it could be held, those plans would have gone awry. So the decision was made to stop the first bout of the day, and advance the Krishan-Abaka contest.

“Boxing is an indoor sport. Its for reasons like this it isn’t meant to be held in the open. But it was the first time it was being held in India, so this was understandable,” shrugged Abaka later. Apart from the rushed nature in which it took place, there was little to complain about. Krishan and Abaka walked out to the ring from behind the giant screen that parted. The Kenyan attempted to look menacing as he walked out in a hoodie. Krishan carried an Indian flag to whip up some patriotic fervor.

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As they walked to the ring confetti popped and fireworks sparked alongside them. In between the six rounds, a blonde haired model paced the ring while carrying a white board indicating which round was next.

The sizeable crowd, most of whom had come for their weekend shopping, seemed to enjoying the mood even as the threat of rain never materialised.

They cheered as the two boxers closed in and then louder even as Krishan landed a heavy left hook to stagger Abaka. And when the Kenyan slipped in and landed on the canvas in the third, the atmosphere reached a fever pitch as if he had been knocked down.

The big knockout, the throng must have been hoping for never materialised eventually. Vikas was declared the winner taking each of the six rounds to claim a unanimous decision victory.

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“It was a little difficult for both of us because we were both trying to avoid injury. Vikas and I will both be going to Baku for the World Olympic qualifiers so we didn’t want to lose that chance,” said Abaka.

For his part, Mirko Wolf, Managing director of APB felt the event was a success. And while the event was initially supposed to be only a one off in order to benefit Vikas’ chances for Olympic qualification, Wolf felt the APB had a future in India. “When I go back to AIBA, I will have great things to say about India. Undoubtedly we plan on hosting more events like this in India. We are speaking to a number of stakeholders and we think we could hold another tournament soon after the Olympics,” he said.