Indian professional boxer Vijender Singh on Friday (March 19) was handed his first defeat in professional boxing by Russian Artysh Lopsan. Vijender misplaced through technical knockout (TKO) in the fifth spherical of an eight-round bout on the rooftop of the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa.
With this loss, Vijender’s unbeaten-run in professional boxing got here to an finish. Before this match, the Olympic bronze medal winner pugilist loved a 12-game successful streak in the professional boxing profession since beginning his profession in 2015.
An eight-round duel, nicknamed ‘Battle on Ship’, turned out to be a one-sided affair. Vijender, the 35-year-old poster boy of Indian boxing, regarded visibly drained after the third spherical. And in the fourth spherical, the Lopsan with a mixture of left and proper punches thrice despatched the Indian on the mat.
The knockout punch was landed by Lopsan in spherical 5 because the referee deemed Vijender unfit to proceed and handed the bout to Lopsan.
A day earlier than the battle Vijender had mentioned: “I’m excited to return to the ring and the weigh-in gives me confidence that I’m on the right path. I never think about my opponent and don’t really care who I’m fighting. I’ll surely go for the knockout and if not that, I’ll make sure my every punch counts.”
Notably, this was Vijender’s first professional bout in greater than 15 months, partly due to the Covid pandemic as all sporting actions had stopped. In his twelfth bout held in Dubai in November 2019, the Haryana boxer had defeated Ghana’s Charles Adamu.
Vijender regarded bit rusty from the primary spherical. With his higher attain, 26-year-old Lopsan took benefit of his peak and stored his rival at bay.
Competing for the primary time outdoors Europe, that too in the nice and cozy and humid situations in Goa, the Lopsan did not present any signal of fatigue. He stored the strain on regardless of receiving some arduous punches on the physique.
This was Lopsan’s seventh professional bout whereas Vijender had performed 12 earlier than this one.
The Russian had gained 4 bouts earlier than this one whereas misplaced one and one had ended in a draw.
