New Delhi: Midway through the first round of his bout against Mike Snider on Tuesday, Vijender Singh took a punch straight into the face. It wasn’t something Vijender had faced for the first time. Through his 15 years of career as a boxer, he has suffered many such blows. But this was the first time he was shocked.
The Indian boxer, making his professional debut in the United States, thought to himself “welcome to USA”.
“When I was stepping into the ring, I thought I will finish this in one or maximum two rounds. I was prepared. But that punch pushed me back and I had to go slower,” Vijender told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.
He stayed away from Snider and was watchful. Three rounds in and Vijender knew his opponent was tiring. So he decided to attack in the fourth.
The Indian boxer built his attacks but kept his opponent at a distance to not give him a chance to hit again.
He managed to do it so well that Snider had zero openings and when Vijender got one, he finished it off in style. He had Snider on the ropes in the fourth round and launched a flurry of punches to knock his opponent out.
That was Vijender’s 11th win in professional circuit out of 11 bouts and eight of those wins have come via knockouts.
The 33-year-old was more pleased than satisfied after the win, especially to finally enter the ring after a gap of 17 months.
“We wanted this bout to happen because it had been a long time since I had fought. The whole camp had the same feeling,” he said.
Since his last bout in Jaipur against Ernest Amuzu in October 2017, Vijender had not entered the ring. He was supposed to make his US debut in April but a cut on his eye delayed his debut. He returned to India and decided to contest the general elections via a Congress party ticket from south Delhi. He didn’t win but doesn’t regret the decision join politics.
“I take only right decisions. Vijender galat faisle ko bhi sahi bana deta hai [I make a wrong decision also turn right]. I learnt a lot during my campaign and I will never shy away from giving it back to people,” he said.
Despite the defeat in the general elections, he wasn’t demotivated. Two weeks later after the results, he was in USA preparing for the bout.
The Beijing Olympic bronze medallist is back in India after the win and is straightaway prepared for media commitments. Despite the travel and fatigue, Vijender has the glow on his face as if he has just won the bout. There are the witty replies to questions related to his political career and whether he will compete against Pakistan-born British boxer Amir Khan.
“Mai to tyaar hu. Unse bolo tyaar ho. Bacchon se lad raha hai vo [I am ready, tell him to be ready as he is busy fighting kids],” he quipped.
But away from all the fun, Vijender is still focussed on winning. He plans to fight two more bouts, probably one in October and the next in February next year before aiming for a world title.
“I have always maintained I will not leave boxing. I joined politics but didn’t leave boxing. I want to box more in USA. I have 11-0 record so I want to improve the number 11 and the other should remain zero,” he said.