In the hard-fought victory against Zulpikar, there were many lessons for Vijender Singh

Vijender Singh’s third title bout was a strange affair in many ways. The build-up to it was positively benign, especially the final face-off when Vijender and his opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali exchanged friendly glances and a brotherly hug.

There was just the occasional trash-talk – the Indian saying ‘Chinese products don’t last long’ and the Chinese saying ‘‘I am training 10 hours a day to knock Vijender out in 2-3 rounds’. There was a sense of calm about Vijender himself and the people associated with the fight behind the scenes – the edginess that was seen before was less evident. Even the atmosphere inside the Dome at NSCI, Mumbai was flatter than his earlier fights in Delhi, last year, when the roof came down.

It was strange because this was, even before the bell dinged a little before 9 pm on Saturday night to signal the start, by far the most intriguing bout of Vijender’s professional career so far. This was expected to be his toughest. And so it proved to be.

‘Very close fight’

After 10 rounds of high-quality boxing from both the pugilists, there was no clear winner. It was at times breathtaking to watch – the way Vijender was trying to size up his younger opponent, the way Zulpikar took the fight to the home favourite, beginning to dominate as the fight was nearing its end and finally, the pause that preceded the announcer reading out the scoreline that proved how close it indeed was.

First things first, the decision that kicked up quite the controversy on social media, was, perhaps, just about right. The last two rounds belonged to Zulpikar without a doubt but Vijender had the better of his opponent consistently in the earlier rounds. The Chinese opponent, right from the first round, came out with a strategy of targetting Vijender’s midriff. And that strategy crossed the line a couple of times, with the punches landing below the belt. He was warned once in the third round, with the crowds boos ringing in his ears, was penalised in the sixth and was lucky to be not penalised again in the ninth, when the boos were replaced with cries of “cheater, cheater.”

As expected, both camps felt they deserved the win after the bout. Vijender’s team, speaking in the press conference, had no doubt who was the better boxer overall, reiterating over and over that he had the bout under control for the first six-seven rounds. Zulpikar’s team, talking to The Field later, said the ‘fight was very close, but everyone can have their opinion about the decision, and it’s best not to talk about it.’

Read between the lines and you know they felt hard done by. But that’s part of professional boxing – judges have forever been under the scanner, and will continue to do so. But try telling that to the man from Bhiwani who, despite looking battered in the post-fight press conference, had a glow in his face.

But in victory, there were lessons for Vijender.

Vijender’s style has been pretty consistent in his fights so far, at least the ones where a title has been on the line. The bruising affair against Kerry Hope, (another southpaw who took Vijender all the way – there’s a trend emerging there), was similar to his latest bout, not in terms of the punches he took but in terms of the time it took for Vijender to stamp his authority. Ahead of the fight, his trainer spoke about the need for Vijender to take control in the first two rounds against Zulpikar. The 21-year-old’s adavantage was always going to be his stamina and aggression to begin with and Vijender had to counter that early – something that did not happen in the first round and a half.

Scope for improvement

The Indian, like he usually does, took his time to get into the groove, resorting to the tactical style he is known for. When he did land the punches, he made sure he caught his opponent flush – the two right hooks in the second round resonated at the Dome. But he often retreated quickly after that instead of going for the kill, perhaps aware of the damage that the southpaw can cause. His movement was not at its best either – a tentativeness that his team must hope was a one-off and not a technical flaw that needs correction.

Despite all that, despite not being at his best, despite Zulpikar well and truly pushing him all the way, Vijender hung on. That will be the big takeaway from this fight for him and his camp – that he could be a different fighter, digging deep, if needed. While it does raise questions about how he will fare against the best in the world, it showed he can take punches and survive, albeit barely. It’s a good trait to have in his line of work, but it did show there is a definite need for improvement.

At 31, and nine bouts into his professional career, time is not Vijender’s favourite ally right how. He already lost a few months with ‘Battleground Asia’ running into delays and that would have been a reality check for his promoters too, signifying the difficulty of attracting top opponents. But to make up for lost time and more importantly, to show he is a crowd-puller against the best of best, controversial wins against younger, upcoming opponents are not the best of platforms.

On paper though, the rankings boost will delight his team. Having two belts instead of one, will delight him. And as it should. After all, in any sport, a win ultimately does matter more than the route taken to get there.

Make no mistake about it, tougher opponents than Zulpikar Maimaitiali await, if Vijender really does want to have a shot at the world title. That road is tough and fraught with challenges – not just inside the ring, but outside it as well, in terms of landing the right opponents – and the journey starts here.