Vijender Singh outpunches Zulpikar Maimaitiali

Mumbai: Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Vijender Singh stretched his unbeaten record to nine in his professional boxing career after outpunching China’s Zulpikar Maimaitiali at NSCI here on Saturday.

Vijender who has reworked his technique with Manchester-based trainer Lee Beard to take on his southpaw opponent won the 10-round thriller on points in the ‘Battleground Asia’ by IOS Boxing Promotions. Maimaitiali put up a tough fight but his mistakes that resulted in couple of penalties cost him the title. It was a first defeat for Zulpikar in his ninth professional bout. 

Vijender retained the WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title and also snatched the WBO Oriental super middleweight title from his opponent. He was quick on his feet and looked to dominate from the first round. But Vijender kept his composure and guarded himself from his opponent. The second round was action packed with Vijender getting his jabs right.