As a precocious 20 year-old pugilist, Vijender Singh was given a job by the Railways and posted in Jaipur. He enjoyed his brief stay there and relished the old world charm of the Pink City especially the mouthwatering cuisine, the pyaz (onions) Kachori, from the famous Rawat Misthan Bhandar, near Polo Victory cinema hall , the delicious fruit juice and lassi from Ram Chander Kulfi centre near the historic Hawa Mahal. Vijender returned to Jaipur after twelve years as a seasoned professional and the poster boy of Indian boxing. Two days before Christmas he took on Ernest Amuzu of Ghana in the Rajasthan Rumble Fight Night promoted by IOS boxing at Sawai Man Singh Indoor stadium, in front of a capacity crowd of about 5,000 people.
Creditably Vijender has established professional boxing in India. In the past boxers like Gurcharan Singh who narrowly missed a medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics had to slip away to USA to forge a professional career. Due to Vijender’s exploits and glamorous personality professional boxing has at last got a foothold in India. Many talented amateur boxers in the country are following his footsteps and turning professional. There were overall seven fights in the Rajasthan Rumble fight card in different weight categories. Besides several from Haryana there were boxers from Goa (Nikhil Sharma, below 66 kgs), Harsh Nagar (Mumbai, below 90 kgs), Asad Asif Khan (Kolkata) and Fateh Singh (Delhi) both below 62 kgs. The 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Amandeep Singh from Chandigarh has turned professional at the age of 27 years as he feels there is money and fame to be acquired. The most impressive is well built Pradeep Kharera of Riwari who is just 20 years old and has already won a gold medal in the Philippines Federation Cup and is undefeated in three professional bouts so far. He has the skill and confidence to become a top class professional boxer.
All these boxers were on the Rajasthan Rumble fight card and earned money raging from Rs 50,000 to 75,000 for their respective bouts. They also take part in bouts in the Philippines, Thailand and Australia.
So Vijender’s successes has helped professional boxing take off in India. Since he turned professional in mid-2015 he has won ten bouts on the trot. The quality of his opponents from his debut against Sonny Whitling of England to his fourth opponent Alexander Horvath of Hungary was average. His promoters IOS justified this as it helped to establish his reputation before he took on the established professionals. His first six bouts were in London, Liverpool, Bolton and Dublin against lesser known opponents and he was never extended beyond the fifth round. His professional trainers were then satisfied with his improvement, fitness, temperament and sound technique and wanted him to take on higher ranked pugilists. It was then that IOS took the plunge and decided to stage Vijender’s title fights in India.
His professional career in India took off on 16 July 2016 at the Thyagaraj Stadium, Delhi, when he won the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title with a unanimous decision against Kerry Hope of Australia. Since then he has defended his title in Delhi in December 2016, in Mumbai earlier this year and the Rajasthan Rumble was his third title defence. At Mumbai in August 2017 he ousted the tenacious Chinese boxer Zulpikar Maimaitiali on points to capture the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt.
His four victories on Indian soil have come in contrasting fashion and have banished any doubts about his ability to sustain a career in the rough and tough world of professional boxing. However, he became a professional at a late age. Initially there were doubts if he had the stamina to last ten rounds of a title fight as he was used to amateur boxing of three rounds each. However Vijender cast aside all apprehensions by going the distance against the tough Aussie Kerry Hope in July 2016. He lasted the distance and fought a cagey battle, intent on using his long reach and quicksilver left jabs to notch up points and secure a unanimous verdict.
Then there were doubts about his ability to land a killer punch. He again dispelled all doubts by a power packed display in the bout against Franics Cheka of Tanzania. He landed several heavy punches and won with a technical knockout in the third round.
Against the Chinese Maimatiali, he was twice winded when he got blows below the belt. This slowed him down but he used his good technique and ring craft to avoid the rapid punches of his opponent. In this bout he displayed his mental toughness and ability to think out of the box to obtain a victory.
In the Rajasthan Rumble, Vijender showed the ability to change tactics during the bout. Amuzu is known as the knock out king. He had won 21 out of his 23 bouts by knock outs. So Vijender started cautiously, using his reach to secure points with his left jabs. It was only when Amuzu made a tactical blunder of rushing to the corners in the sixth round did Vijender pile on the pressure. He attacked with renewed vigour and unleashed jabs and combination punches to dominate the African boxer. In the final round he winced as he seemed to suffer a muscle injury. So he cleverly played a percentage game, content on biding out time rather than going for a knock out, that was being demanded by his vociferous fans.
Remarkable concentration is another positive facet that Vijender has developed. He does not get swayed by the crowd’s emotions, sticks to his game plan and has become a consummate professional.
It is not just the victories but his charisma and aura that Vijender has created that has given a boost to professional boxing in India. With his Bollywood connections he has developed a glamorous image and he has learnt the skill of giving the perfect sound bytes. On reaching the capital of Rajasthan he told the local media that he considers Jaipur as his second home. The local media coverage was extensive and the citizens of Jaipur adopted Vijender as a son of the soil. They cheered lustily when he got a unanimous point’s verdict against the 34 year old Ghanaian to retain his WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific Super Middleweight titles.
His world ranking has also improved. In the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) list he is ranked seventh in the world in his weight category. But where does he go now. He has served his apprentice period with distinction and has helped establish professional boxing in India.
Vijender’s career in professional boxing is at the crossroads. He has to avoid the pitfall of getting into a comfort zone of battling opponents against whom he has a distinct advantage. He has to now stop meeting below par or over the hill opponents. His promoters IOS need to take some hard decisions to ensure that the momentum gained is further developed and does not remain stagnant. Vijender has become a seasoned professional pugilist and should now be tested against higher ranked opponents, even if it means losing a bout. As Vijender is in his early thirties it is imperative that he meets top ranked boxers sooner rather than later when his reflexes could slow down.
A fight against the Pakistani British boxer Amir Khan who is in a different weight category will be more of a gimmick and pandering to nationalist sentiments. Instead it would be better if his promoters IOS find him opponents of a high calibre in his weight category and even get him to fight abroad, which will be the true test of his mental strength and skills. There is speculation that he may he may challenge Britain’s Luke Blackledge for the Commonwealth Super Middleweight title in March or April 2018. Blackledge is a talented 27-year-old boxer with 23 wins including eight knock outs from 30 bouts. It could be make or break for Vijender in 2018 as he takes on highly rated opponents.
