In an act of great gesture, Vijender Singh has offered to return his WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title to Chinese Zulpikar Maimaitiali in lieu of peace at the Indo-China border.
Vijender, a double champion in pro boxing, has urged India and China to maintain peace at the border.
“I don’t want this title. I want to give it back to Zulpikar. I want to dedicate this win to India-China friendship. There is some tension at the border, need peace,” Vijender said after becoming the double champion.
Vijender’s comments came in the backdrop of the stand-off between India and China.
He won the thrilling 10-round bout by one of the closest unanimous decisions 96-93 95-94 95-94 to maintain his unbeaten streak at the professional boxing.
The bonhomie between the two boxers was evident as Zulpikar hugged Vijender and made him wear his cap. Vijender also returned the gesture by offering his belt to the Chinese boxer.
Vijender said, “He (Zulpikar) gave me that cap, he said I asked him for the cap and he gave it to me, I simply gave him the belt but he couldn’t understand it.”
The Beijing Games bronze medallist admitted that he did not expect the fight to go down the wire.
“The fight was really good, I didn’t expect (it will go all the way), it was 10 rounds, at times the Chinese products last a little long, it was an amazing fight and fun! The fight was tough and a lot of blood oozed out, but finally win was ours, it was nice,” he said.
Vijender has now stretched his unbeaten streak to nine bouts.
He came.
He saw.He conquered.@boxervijender kept his unbeaten record in Pro-Boxing intact! 👊#BattleGroundAsia pic.twitter.com/MFpMNGYOD4— IOS Boxing (@IOSBoxing) August 5, 2017
Feature image: AFP