Vijender Singh defeated China’s Zulpikar to maintain his unbeaten run in his professional career but the win did not come easily. The Indian boxer struggled, bruised and battered, the nose was bloodied, barely connected with his punches, by the 9 and 10th round, he was tired and hoping for survival.
Vijender had already fallen to his knees in Round 9 following a blow to the mid-rift, although, Vijender complained of low blow but the referee didn’t buy it and from there on it looked like Vijender’s unbeaten run was coming to an embarrassing end in the home crowd.
Zulipikir will regret that he left it to the judges to call the fight, even though judge’s score favoured Vijender but given the dominating display by Zulpikar, especially in the closing rounds, the decision will raise eyebrows.
For the most part of the night, Vijender never looked like he was challenging for Zulfikar's WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt. “I didn’t expect the fight to be that good,” Vijender said after the match, nose patched up and a blackened left eye socket. “Aaj kaafi khoon baha.”
After the fight, Vijender offered to return the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title to Zulpikar in an effort to maintain peace at the Indo-China border.
“I want to give back this belt to Zulipikaer. I hope for peace in the border and the message is about peace. That is most important,” Vijender said.