Vijender Singh dedicates his win over Zulpikar Maimaitiali to India-China friendship

Vijender Singh dedicates his win over Zulpikar Maimaitiali to India-China friendship

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Vijender Singh has dedicated his hard-fought win over Zulpikar Maimaitia to friendship between India and China. The 31-year-old Indian also added that he is willing to give back his newly acquired WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title in exchange for peace at the India-China border.

One of the greatest things about sport is that it has the power to break barriers and cross borders. And this was proved once again, yesterday, when Vijender Singh took on China’s Zulpikar Maimaitia at the Battleground Asia event in Mumbai even as both the countries are in middle of a military standoff on the Doklam plateau near the Sikkim border. 

Both the pugilists went hammer and tongs at each other during the bout, after which Singh emerged victorious following a bloody battle in Mumbai. The judges declared the Indian as the unanimous winner with the final score reading 96-93, 95-94 and 95-94. 

However, at the end of the fight, Singh made a surprising request and announced that he wished to return his newly acquired belt so as to alleviate the tension across the Indo-China border. “I want to dedicate this win to India-China friendship! There is some tension at the border, need peace. I don’t want the title, for peace and harmony at the border between India-China I will give it back to Maimaitial,” he said to the surprise of the vast majority of the crowd. 

Yesterday’s victory was Singh’s 9th consecutive win since turning pro and he now holds a perfect 9-0 record to his name. But more importantly, he now holds the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title along with the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title, which he already held. 

However, as far as Singh’s decision to return the title is concerned, it’s a rare request which would be up to the officials. Reflecting on the bout last night, the Indian wasn’t too pleased with some the punches that were landed on him by the Chinese as he considered them as unsporting. “You all saw it was a tough fight, but happy that we came out victorious. It was unfortunate that he hit a few low blows and that upset me a little. But I had to recover quickly,” he said.

Finally, Singh took the opportunity to thank the crowd which included some of the biggest Indian celebrities. “I want to thank the people for coming out and supporting me. The likes of Amitabh Bachchan Sir, the king, the legend; Randeep Hooda, Baba Ji [Baba Ramdev],” he stated before leaving the ring.

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