Asia & Oceania

Vijender Singh Takes Center Stage in India

Published

9 years ago

July 16, 2016

Vijender Singh Takes Center Stage – India’s 168 pound hopeful Vijender Singh ran his record to 7-0 with a 10 round unananimous decision over Kerry Hope on Saturday night in New Delhi, India. For Singh, the win gives him the WBO Asia-Pacific title at super middleweight in his first professional fight in his home country. Thyagaraj Sports Complex was sold to capacity of just over 6,000 and the guest list included a long list of celebrities there to root on Singh.

Vijender Singh Takes Center Stage

Singh is already the most famous boxer in India, having won an Olympic bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He waited until October of last year to turn professional, and he fought six fights in the United Kingdom in short order. His name already resonates among people from India throughout the world, and his potential as a star in what is the world’s second most populous nation have many people watching his progress keenly.

Kerry Hope represented the sternest test to date for Singh, as the veteran southpaw entered the fight with a record of 23-7 in a career spanning over a dozen years. Hope fought most of his career in England before taking up residence in Australia in 2014. Hope has gone 3-0 since then, but at 34 years old there were questions as to what Hope had left heading into this fight.

The crowd reacted to every Singh punch, and chanted his name throughout. Singh was methodical, but over the long haul he proved to be the sharper and more precise puncher. Hope fell to looking to land a haymaker, making for a sloppy fight at times. In round four, the two men went down in a tangle, but Singh stayed composed and kept right on boxing.

Round six saw the action pick up as Singh started to land bigger punches. Hope did not have much in the way of defense, but he was only rattled on one or two occasions as Singh remained content to control the action at his pace. Rounds nine and ten saw the crowd get involved with every punch, and the fighters reacted and exchanged. In the end, Singh coasted a little bit, knowing he was comfortably ahead on the cards.

Singh successfully logged 10 rounds, which is important experience at this point, since he put in just 17 rounds in his first six fights. The judges had the scores for Singh, 100-90, 98-92, 98-92.

Vijender Singh Takes Center Stage

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