17th December, the day which had been much celebrated and hyped, did not come with a great surprise to Vijender Singh fans as he registered his eights straight win in pro boxing to defend his WBO Asia Pacific title. Vijender knocked out Francis Cheka in the third round to flag off the celebrations in a packed Thyagraj stadium here in Delhi.
The bout, which was supposed to last for 10 rounds, could not go beyond the decisive punch handed to the former world champion Cheka in the third round.
Speaking on the win, Vijender Singh said that he had trained hard for weeks in Manchester and going into the fight, he had self belief whereas Cheka was doing too much of talking. He believed in his punch power and that had come in handy while knocking out the opposition.
There were some high profile guests present in the front row of audience to cheer for the Indian boxer. From five time world champion in boxing MC Mary Kom to MoS for Home Affairs Kirren Rijiju and Wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.
Next up at the stadium was a bout between India’s Deepak Tanwar (67 kgs) and Indonesia’s Sutriyono Bara Boys. However, Deepak was handed a knockout win in less than 2 rounds, giving another reason for the crowd to cheer. Deepak has now won 4 bouts without losing one.
Dharmendra Grewal, another Indian in 95 kgs weight category was up against Abasi Kyobe of Uganda. After a full fight of 4 rounds, Dharmendra was declared a winner by the judges.