PANAJI: Russian boxer Artysh Lopsan, who ended star pugilist Vijender Singh‘s unbeaten run in the professional circuit, said he was glad to become the first person to stop the Indian’s juggernaut. In a major anti-climax, the 26-year-old six feet four inches tall pugilist out-slugged Vijender in the ‘Battle on Ship’ here on Friday evening and the bout was decided in the fifth round itself, ending in a knockout. “My strategy worked against Vijender, he is a good fighter. I want to thank everyone who arranged this bout, it was a wonderful experience. I’m glad to become the first one to break the unbeaten record of Vijender Singh,” Lopsan said after the fight. Though dejected, Vijender put up a brace face, saying he would come back stronger. “It was a good fight. He is a young and strong fighter,” said Vijender, a 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medallist. “But I will surely come back stronger and beat him in Moscow,” the boxer from Bhiwani said.
PANAJI: The unbeaten run of star Indian boxer Vijender Singh in the professional circuit ended on Friday night after he was defeated by his Russian opponent Artysh Lopsan in the ‘Battle on Ship‘ here. Vijender, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and who had turned professional in 2015, entered the bout with a 12-0 record but lost . In the opening round, Vijender was cautious in his approach as the Russian outplayed the Haryana boxer and used his height to perfection. The Russian, who was fighting his seventh bout, out-punched Vijender on the rooftop of the ‘Majestic Pride Casino’ ship on the waters of the Mandovi River, which resulted in a heart-break for the partisan crowd.
The referee, after one minute and nine seconds in the fifth round, declared the Russian as the winner as the eight-round game ended in a knockout. In the second round, the 26-year-old Lopsan gave an exhibition of his class during and matched Vijender’s oodles of experience. He had better exchanges and made optimum use of his punches — hooks and straight punches — and tired the Haryana boxer.
The Indian continued to face stiff competition as the 6 feet four inches tall Russian managed to squeeze every ounce of his opponent’s energy. Vijender was visibly troubled and also looked tired in the next two rounds as he was continuously punched by the Russian, who was a tad better on the given day.
In the co-main event, seasoned campaigner and pugilist Neeraj Goyat defeated his rival Sandeep Kumar in the welterweight division by a knockout. In the other fights of the evening, Chennai’s Sabari J out-punched Amey Kalambe 60-54 in the lightweight category. Then Haryana’s Kuldeep Dhanda suffered at the hands of Digari Mahesh from Uttarakhand in the super lightweight category. Karthik Satish Kumar won against Jayapal Jaganadhan in the lightweight category. Dharmendra Grewal was declared as the unanimous winner against Ashish Ahalawat in the cruiserweight category.
NEW DELHI: India’s Nikhat Zareen stunned reigning world champion Paltceva Ekaterina to breeze into the women’s 51kg quarter-finals at the Bosphorus Boxing tournament in Istanbul here. The Asian Championships bronze medallist, Zareen caused a major upset on the second day of the tournament on Wednesday when she out-punched the Russian boxer 5-0. The Indian pugilist will have yet another tough bout ahead as she takes on two-time world champion Kyzaibay Nazym of Kazakhstan in her last-eight round. Apart from Zareen, 2013 Asian champion Shiva Thapa, Sonia Lather and Parveen also registered victories in their respective categories to proceed to the quarter-finals. Thapa got the better of Kazakhstan’s Smagulov Baghtiyov 3-2 in the men’s 63kg division. World championship silver medallist Lather (57kg) and Parveen (60kg) beat local favourites Surmeneli Tugcenaz and Ozyol Esra 5-0 in their respective women’s second round matches. However, it was curtains for Duryodhah Negi (69kg), Brijesh Yadav (81kg) and Krishan Sharma (+91kg) as they lost their preliminary round bouts. The third day of the event will witness six Indian boxers fighting it out in their respective quarter-final bouts. Lather, Zareen, Parveen and Jyoti (69kg) will be seen in action in the women’s category while Thapa and Solanki will present Indian challenge in the men’s competition.
NEW DELHI: Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra has signed up with Florida-based Pro Box Promotions and will be making his debut on May 1 against a yet-to-be-decided opponent in Tampa, Florida. The 27-year-old, who is also a silver medallist from the 2013 Asian Championships, was supposed to fight on March 19 in a super welterweight (69kg) bout but that has been put off for now as he will continue to train for his debut in May. “I am delighted to have signed with Pro Box Promotions and Garry Jonas. Garry has guided world champions such as Juan Carlos Payano and Argenis Mendez, so I am very excited to follow in their path and become a world champion for the people of India,” Jangra said in a release. “I grew up watching Mike Tyson, and Garry was a long-term business partner of Mike Tyson, so it is a dream to work with someone who did great things with one of my heroes Mike Tyson. “I am looking forward to fighting on May 1 in Tampa, Florida, in what will be a top-quality night of entertainment. I am all about bringing entertainment to all of the sporting worlds.” The South Asian Games gold-medallist was last seen in action in the Indian Boxing League’s 2019 edition. “I was due to fight this week in Tampa, however, my promoter thought it was better for me to continue to train hard and box on a bigger show that will be available to viewers in India. So the team decided that was the best decision right now,” Jangra said. “I am already getting into the best shape of my career with my coaches Marc Farrait and Asa Beard and I believe this is the team that has the correct global experience that can turn me into star-like Amir Khan.” Jangra, who was mentored by 2010 CWG gold-medallist Akhil Kumar early in his career, has been troubled by injuries. He had underwent a surgery for a left hand injury in 2016, a setback that came while his career was on the upswing.
Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh will be making his return to the ring on March 19 for a Vegas-style boxing match on the rooftop deck of the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa.
The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist turned professional in 2015 and was last seen in action in November 2019 when he defeated Ghana’s Charles Adamu to keep his unbeaten record of 12-0 intact, including 8 knockout wins.
Ahead of his return, Vijender is excited about being back in the ring and that too in his own country.
“Yes I am excited that I can have a boxing match in India, in front of my own people, again as there has been no such event in India before, especially in Goa,” Vijender told News18.com in an exclusive interview.
Vijender has fought in India before — two in New Delhi and one each in Mumbai and Jaipur.
When asked what exactly is ‘Vegas-style boxing’, Vijender said: “Spectators will be seated with one seat gap, due to the pandemic. Matches in the United States have been organised with the pandemic in mind, following the rules and protocols and the fight has been live-streamed. So we are trying to do a similar thing in India and I am hoping that people will like the bout and enjoy boxing.”
Returning to the ring will not easy, especially after almost more than a year and Vijender knows that.
“I started preparations in January and will have around one-two weeks of training left before I get back in the ring, but I am ready for the fight. The pandemic changed a lot of things,” Vijender said.
“I have been training in Delhi with Jai Bhagwan, who is my training partner in India.
“There were some issues in the beginning, in the first week back, I faced a lot of problems. Got hit quite a lot and had a couple of injuries well. That slowly it all started coming back to me that I am in the ring again. After a point, you do get back on track,” he said.
Vijender is hoping that event will be a success and everyone involved will be safe.
“Hopefully, the vaccination drive has started rolling out, I am hoping that it is all well and that no one gets infected. Let’s hope for the best and everything will be fine as we will be following all the norms and rules,” he said.
Recently one of Vijender’s tweets went viral, of him complementing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his fitness. The Congress leader had visited Kerala and had jumped into the sea along with fishermen at Thangassery beach.
“Abs of a boxer. Most daring young fit & people’s leader. Way to go @RahulGandhi Ji,” Singh had tweeted on Thursday with a photo.
When asked about the story behind his viral post, Vijender said, “A lot of my posts go viral.”
“I like that picture because when I saw that picture on social media, my first thought was that – ‘he looks damn fit!’,” he said.
“Then I tweeted that ‘you look like a boxer’. I write what is the truth and what I feel in my heart. If people like it, fine. But he is so fit as he jumped into the Arabian Sea,” he added.
Vijender also clarified that he will not be asking Rahul Gandhi to join him in the ring for a friendly bout when asked.
“No, why. He is doing his job. He is fighting for our rights. I will invite him to come and see my fight in Goa, if he finds the time to come that, of course, it will be a pleasure for me,” he said.
Vijender had joined the Congress party and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Delhi and had lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri from the South Delhi constituency.
When asked about the future of his political career, Vijender countered, “The thing about a political career is that it is never on hold, I am always invested. It is not a career. I meet people when they come and am active on social media and always take time out for helping people out.”
