Vijender hammers opponent to win sixth pro fight

Bolton (England), May 14 (IANS) Indian boxing sensation Vijender Singh registered his sixth win in a row in the professional arena by outpunching Andrzej Soldra of Poland by technical knockout in three brutal rounds in a Super Middleweight contest at the Macron Stadium here.

Facing the first eight-round fight of his fledging professional career on Friday evening, Vijender hammered his opponent right from the start, forcing the referee to stop the contest around two minutes into the third round.

The Bhiwani lad will now contest for the World Boxing Organisation's (WBO) Asia title in front of his home crowd in New Delhi on June 11.

Soldra is the most experienced opponent Vijender has faced so far with 12 wins out of the 17 bouts he has fought so far. Five of those wins have come by knockout.

Soldra looked to be better than Vijender's five earlier opponents in terms of footwork and technique. He tried to put up a strong fight in the first two rounds. But the Indian's punching power eventually proved too much for him as Vijender dished out a virtually one-sided hammering in the third round.

Walking into the ring to famous Bollywood song "Singh is King", Vijender was off to an explosive start, dominating the first round. The Haryanvi boxer knocked his opponent to the canvas with a powerful right jab on the counter when Soldra tried to go on the offensive.

The Indian was the better boxer in the second round as well, repeatedly forcing the Polish pugilist to the ropes with powerpacked blows. He managed to penetrate Soldra's defence on several occasions. The Polish boxer was visibly struggling to absorb the blows, but managed to fight on.

Vijender went in for the kill in third round, forcing the worn out Soldra to the ropes repeatedly with crisp punches and body blows. The brutal barrage of punches forced the referee to step in and inspect Soldra's condition before deciding that the Pole was not ready to continue the fight.

"I am thrilled to get my sixth professional victory and excited for my homecoming title fight. Soldra was a good opponent but my punches replied to him. I think this fight was a horror show for him. I am happy that before my title fight, I am able to have six knockout wins," Vijender said after the fight.

"By winning first eight round fight, my confidence level has really gone up and this is a step forward heading towards title fight.

"The support I have received from everyone here in Britain and back home in India has been absolutely phenomenal. Now I will start preparing for my title fight in India. I am happy I will fight in front of my home crowd soon," he added.

"He is a true talent of professional boxing. I am happy with his performance so far and he will go long way. He is very hard working boxer," said Vijender's trainer Lee Beard.