5 records broken by Vijender Singh after his win over China's Zulpikar Maimaitiali

In the backdrop of simmering tensions between India and China, a high stakes bout between an Indian and Chinese was always going to grab a lot of media attention across both countries. A win by an Indian ended up giving his countrymen some chest thumping rights even if it did little to alleviate the tensions hovering around the borders.

Vijender Singh’s win over his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali was celebrated all across the country and given the atmosphere of tension surrounding it, it is possible that it will be remembered for a long time to come. However, all those factors aside, Vijender’s victory against Maimaitiali will also go down in record books for several records that the Haryana man created for himself. Here are some of the records

#1 Became the first man to beat Maimaitiali

Despite his 127th ranking, the Chinese entered the game against nine years senior Vijender as no pushover. That was largely because of his record that spoke volumes of his ability to win games at a canter. Before this, the Chinese had contested in 9 matches and hadn’t faced defeat. In fact, the southpaw had won six of those matches in knockouts. All those stacked up to make him a quality proposition awaiting the Indian. The Indian, however, gave the Chinese his first taste of defeat on Saturday.

The win didn’t come easy for Vijender who looked knackered in the last three rounds and benefitted from Maimaitiali docked points by ring side judges in the sixth round. But, as they say, in the end, a win is a win. And that’s how Singh will walk into the record books as the first boxer to inflict a defeat on the Chinese.

#2 First Indian to lay his hands on two titles at once

Apart from the political tensions that lent this bout between Vijender and Zulpikar an extra edge, what also gave the match high octane intensity was that two titles were at stake. If Vijender had lost, he would have had to hand over the WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title apart from letting go of his dreams of laying his hands on the WBO Oriental super middleweight title.

But Vijender showed why he is rated so highly by winning a difficult bout against the 23-year-old southpaw Maimaitiali and making both the titles his own, in process becoming the first Indian to achieve such a feat.

Another Indian, Pradeep Kumar Sihag, has won the IPBO, PABA, OPBF & WBC Asian Middleweight championship titles but he represents Australia in Pro Boxing.

#3 Ties with Neeraj Goyat for Most consecutive wins for an Indian Pro boxer

Vijender Singh extended his unbeaten streak in Pro Boxing to nine bouts with a win over the Chinese Zulpikar Maimaitiali on Saturday and equaled Neeraj Goyat’s record for most consecutive wins for an Indian Pro Boxer. Neeraj Goyat, who appeared in the penultimate bout before Vijender took on Zulpikar, also registered nine Pro Boxing victories on the trot.

What has helped the 32-year-old Beijing Olympic Bronze medalist in claiming this record is the fact that there are not too many Indians on the Pro Boxing circuit and that’s why his name stands out.

However, inspired by Vijender, a number of Indians are now making forays into Pro Boxing. In fact, two quarter finalists from the Beijing Olympics, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar made their Pro Boxing debuts yesterday and won their bouts in technical knockouts.

#4 Becomes the only active Indian boxer to defeat opponents from 4 different continents

What makes Vijender Singh a name to be taken seriously in the Pro Boxing circuit in his nascent career is the diversity of the names he has won his bouts against. While his first six opponents, beginning from Sonny Whiting, all hailed from Europe, the next three have come from three different continents. Kerry Hope hailed from Australia, Francis Cheka was a Tanzanian while Zulpikar Maimaitiali came from neighbouring country China.

And no prizes for guessing what connects all these names. Yes, they all came second in their Pro Boxing bouts against the Bhiwani man, which has made Vijender Singh the only active Indian boxer to defeat opponents from four different countries.

#5 Tied with Neeraj Goyat for most Pro Boxing wins for an active Indian boxer

Nine wins out of nine games puts Singh comfortably at the top of another record list i.e of most Pro Boxing wins for an active Indian boxer. He, however, is tied here as well with Neeraj Goyat who has 9 wins to his name in 13 bouts. Goyat has had to incur two defeats, something Vijender’s pro boxing career hasn’t seen yet.

Besides, Vijender has always taken on better opponents than Goyat has and that itself explains why his clash with the Chinese puglist was the marquee event of the night and not Goyat’s.