Vijender Singh registered the seventh consecutive win of his professional boxing when he won a hard-fought contest against Australia's Kerry Hope to clinch the WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight belt. After 10 rounds of intense boxing, the Indian was declared winner by unanimous decision by the judges. To the surprise of many, the boxer broke into tears after his hard earned victory. The 30-year-old Bhiwani boxer later explained the reason behind those tears that millions saw on the television.
After 2010 Commonwealth Games, this was the first time the boxer was playing in front of his home crowd. All his previous six professional boxing bouts were played outside the country. Seeing thousands turn up to cheer for his every upper cut, jab and hook on the Australian left the boxer overwhelmed. Singh later mentioned after the victory he had been dreaming of watching boxing being viewed like this in India and that’s why emotions got the better of him as the crowds cheered in Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi when Singh was declared the winner.
Talking after his win to Charu Sharma, an emotional Vijender said, "Firstly I would like to congratulate Kerry Hope for a wonderful fight. It is by far the toughest fight I have been in till date, and that makes the victory even sweeter. I couldn't imagine Boxing would reach this stage in India. This win is not about me, it's about India and I hope I can continue with this kind of form.” Singh said. The 30-year-old also dedicated the victory to Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest ever boxer, who passed away last month at the age of 74.
Congratulatory messages for the boxer flew from all around the country as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee tweeted their congratulations to the boxer on his win.
