Vijender Singh belatedly went into the offensive to defend his WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific Super middleweight titles with a unanimous verdict win over African champion Ernest Amuzu at Jaipur on Saturday, continuing his unbeaten run in the pro circuit. With this victory, Vijender has now won 10 pro bouts on the trot.
The 32-year-old Olympic bronze medallist has so far enjoyed a great run in the professional career, winning all his nine fights, and it was no different here in front of jam-packed Sawai Mansingh Stadium. It was very cautious first round from both pugilists and Vijender seemed to have found his groove only when the sixth round started.
He landed some hard punches on Amuzu’s rib-cage to take control of the bout. Amuzu returned the favour with a few of his own, but the West African Boxing Union Middleweight champion could not sustain the tempo against the Indian.
A confident Vijender then turned up with renewed vigour to unleash a flurry of punches on Amuzu. He landed two powerful jabs on the Ghanian’s jawline, but Amuzu retaliated with a hook, aiming at Vijender’s head. It was easy pickings for Vijender thereafter as the Amuzu committed technical blunders by rushing to the corners.
With Vijender having the upper hand, a tired Amuzu tried to stage a fightback but the former was up to the task, even as the duo exchanged a few punches. Vijender played a percentage game during the final round when he had already suffered a muscle pull and didn’t attack a lot. Prior to this bout, Amuzu had 23 wins under his belt including 21 knockouts out of 25 fights.
In other under-card bouts of the day, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Amandeep Singh defeated Punjab’s Manoj Kumar. Kuldeep Dhanda beat Fateh Singh, Pradeep Kharera got the better of Nikhil Sharma, while Dharmender Grewal beat Harsh Nagar.