Narender did the star-turn as he picked up an unanimous 3:0 victory over Sergei Egorov to help Indian Tigers beat Patriot Boxing Team from Russia to register their first win in the World Series of Boxing (WSB), here at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak.
Coming into the final bout of the day with the scores levelled at 2-2, Narender was at his imperious best as he blew away the towering Russian in a rather easy fashion in the clash of super-heavyweights.
Narender, riding on the vociferous home support, kept landing his ferocious punches and even cut his opponent over his left eye in the third round in the explosive super heavyweight bout. From thereon, it was an uphill task for Egorov to overcome the staunch challenge as the Tigers emerged victorious in a nail biting finish to a WSB clash.
Earlier in the second encounter of the night, star Indian boxer Shiva Thapa marked his return to the squared-circle with a phenomenal 2-1 victory over Patriot Boxing Team’s Shamil Askerov while Narender’s heroic performance in a nail biting final encounter helped the Tigers seize the early initiative and take a 2-0 lead.
Starting the high-voltage clash in front of a near-capacity crowd, both the boxers spent the first round measuring each other but picked up the pace in the second as Shiva looked to outsmart his opponent with pace and agility.
Shiva making his debut for the Tigers looked like he was getting tired but showed great grit and determination to out punch his opponent and leave his opponent running for covers to eventually emerge victorious.
“It was a good bout and I am happy to have won my debut bout for the Indian Tigers. It felt good to be back in the ring and I would like to the crowd for their support,” an elated Shiva said after the bout.
In the lung-opener of the night, Kavinder Singh Bisht continued his winning run in WSB as he walloped Rasul Saliev in the 52kg category with a unanimous decision to get the Indian Tigers off to a flying start.
However, in the third and fourth bout of the night Patriots made a comeback as Duryodhan Singh Negi (69 kg) and Brijesh Yadav (81 kg) lost out to their respective opponents after putting up a gallant fight.
Indian Tigers are currently third in the group and a win against China Dragons on Sunday will surely invigorate a new leash of life into India’s challenge and keep them in the contention to qualify for the knock-out stages.