Vijender Singh enters the Top Ten of WBO rankings

Indian boxing sensation and former Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh has just broken into the top ten places as per the latest rankings by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO). The Haryana-born pugilist finds his name at the 10th position, just above Trevor McCumby from USA.

The current WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight champion, Vijender claimed the first title of his professional boxing career when he defeated former WBC European Champion Kerry Hope in a gruelling 10 round contest last month in New Delhi. With seven wins out of seven matches played, Vijender's stats are embellished by the six knockout victories that he had achieved before his last fight that saw a unanimous decision by the judges that declared the bout in his favour.

In the rankings released on Wednesday, Vijender's successor is Trevor McCumby who, too, holds an undefeated record from 22 bouts, 17 out of which have been knockouts. In the 9th place, just ahead of the Indian is the US-based Russian boxer Matt Korobov with 26 wins out of 27 matches played. Leading the pack is Jesse Hart, another American who is the standing North American Boxing Organisation (NABO) champion.

As the challenges get stiffer by the day for the unstoppable Vijender, his next likely opponent could be Commonwealth champion Luke Blackledge. While the confirmation is still awaited, it's remarkable what he has accomplished already in his relatively short tenure as India's poster boy for professional boxing.