Vijender Singh managed to reign supreme over Francis Cheka and defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super middleweight title by knockout. It took only three rounds for Vijender to get the better of Cheka with the Haryana boxer taunting the Tanzanian before being declared the winner.
Vijender was off to a watchful start against the experienced opponent but switched to offensive mode in the second round where he landed some heavy blows. The Indian boxer was alert in defence and made sure to land his punches when they mattered. The crowd was on their feet when Vijender threw a heavy punch and followed it up with a little act of his own.
It was clear that Vijender was the crowd favourite at the Tyagaraj stadium in New Delhi. Vijender now has an 8-0 record since turning pro and has kept his winning streak intact. Vijender had spent the last two months in UK training for the bout. Cheka was the most experienced opponent he had faced in professional wrestling and not one to mince words. Cheka had stated in the weigh in that he will make sure that India is ashamed of Vijender after the fight and that he didn’t consider it much of a challenge to beat the Haryana boxer.
Vijender on his part was much more restrained. He let his aggressive side do the talking only on two occassions, once when he said, “Lath maar ke bhaga dege apne desh. Hum toh yahi bolege bas!” during the weigh in and then during the bout itself.
Here are a few reactions to his incredible victory:
Congratulations Tau @boxervijender .
Cheka ka Theka le liya. Everybody should drink Chikoo Shake in honour of your win.#NightOfTheChampions pic.twitter.com/fZDa1W7Hss— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) 17 December 2016
Many congratulations @boxervijender on another outstanding bout. The nation is proud of you. मेरी ज़बान मुबारक हुई! 👍https://t.co/nncigMROLM pic.twitter.com/OF1tW0mPX6
— Kuldeep Bishnoi (@bishnoikuldeep) 17 December 2016
Well done @boxervijender! Another knock out punch!!!
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) 17 December 2016
Vijender Singh is the King of the Ring!! What a game .@boxervijender, witnessed the most electrifying bout. Congrats! #NightOfTheChampions
— Vijay Goel (@VijayGoelBJP) 17 December 2016
Promoter Neerav Tomar remained pragmatic about a world title challenge. He said Vijender’s progress on to the world stage will take time and it is being worked at by all parties concerned. “We’re going to take this step by step. We might go to UK or China and see how we progress with Vijender Singh.