Vijender Singh back to winning ways, knocks out Eliasu Sulley in second round of pro boxing fight
The 36-year-old Vijender Singh now holds a 13-1 record in his pro boxing career.
Indian boxer Vijender Singh defeated Eliasu Sulley of Ghana via knockout in the Jungle Rumble pro boxing fight at the Balbir Juneja Stadium in Raipur, Chattisgarh on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Vijender Singh, a bronze medal winner at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, knocked out Eliasu Sulley in the second round of the super middleweight event. The fight, originally slated for six rounds, lasted five minutes and seven seconds.
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Vijender Singh’s uppercuts early on shook up Eliasu Sulley, the West Africa Boxing Union champion who was unbeaten ahead of the match. The Indian then resorted to a series of combinations to down the Ghanaian boxer.
“The guy was hurt from the first round and the fight should have ended way before,” Vijender’s trainer Lee Beard said. “Vijender gave such a solid punch and Eliasu should have been knocked out way sooner than he did.”
With the result, Vijender Singh now holds a 13-1 record in his pro boxing career. His only loss came against Russia's Artysh Lopsan via a technical knockout in Goa in March last year.
The bout against Eliasu Sulley, who had won all his eight previous matches by knockout, was Vijender’s first fight since the loss to Lopsan.
“We haven’t been fighting for two years and now that we start our season with a victory, it is an amazing feeling,” Vijender said. “I have seen Eliasu Sulley fight and I know everyone thinks that he is an easy opponent but my coaches and my team know that it was not at all.”
The amateur-turned-pro Vijender Singh is expected to be in action again in December.
Vijender Singh, the first Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics, turned to professional boxing in 2015. He has won nine of his fights via knockouts.