Vijender Singh made a smashing professional debut by knocking out Britain’s Sonny Whiting in the middleweight category, ruthlessly demolishing the man, who promised to put him through hell at the Manchester Arena.
Manchester/Nagpur: India’s star boxer Vijender Singh lived up to the expectations and made a smashing professional debut by knocking out Britain’s Sonny Whiting ruthlessly outclassing the man, who promised to put him through hell at the Manchester Arena. Vijender won the contest with a few seconds left in the third of the four-round bout via Technical Knockout, pushing Whiting literally on to the ropes and smacking him with a combination of jabs and uppercuts before the referee stepped in to stop the contest.
Striding in confidently Vijender’s gait hardly looked a debutant as he got down to business against Whiting. In fact, it was Whiting, who looked timid and unsure of what to do against the clinical Indian. Nimble-footed and precise, Vijender used his long reach to full advantage against his 26-year-old rival, who is himself merely four-bouts old in the pro circuit.
The bout lived up to the hype and Whiting’s pre-match comments about how badly he was going to hurt Vijender fell flat as a flurry of punches, combined with jabs and uppercuts smacked the Briton and the referee had to step in to stop the contest.
The 29-year-old Indian walked out to a mixed reaction with Punjabi music glaring in the background. As the bout got underway, both men were seen exchanging soft blows. However, Vijender held his guard and repeatedly pushed Whiting in the corner.
“Thanks to all my fans. My next fight will be Oct 30 in Harrow, enjoy it. I It’s new for me but I’ve been working hard. It’s going well, I want to win! That’s just the beginning,” said the Haryana-lad after a resounding start to his pro career.
Vijender treaded cautiously to start with, taking a measure of Whiting in the opening three minutes. However, that did not stop him from landing a few clean jabs to clinch the initiative. The Indian grew in confidence in the second round against the erratic Whiting, whose attacking strategy went haywire with every passing second.
