Newark (USA), Jul 14: Indian boxing star Vijender Singh remained an unstoppable force, clinching a Technical Knockout over the more experienced Mike Snider on his debut in the US professional circuit here.
In what was to be an eight-round super middleweight contest on Saturday night (early Sunday morning in India), the 33-year-old from Haryana prevailed in four rounds for his 11th consecutive victory in the circuit.
"It was excellent getting back in the ring after a long time off. It's great to be here in the USA and to get the win. It was really exciting. I am really happy for my winning debut in USA," Vijender said after the bout.
The triumph came in the second minute of the fourth round when Vijender cornered Snider with a flurry of straight punches, prompting the referee to stop the bout in the Indian's favour.
"It took me about four rounds to get back in the swing of things. I expected it to take two or three rounds, but it took me four. I felt good," said Vijender.
This was Vijender's eighth knockout win in all.
The 38-year-old Snider was flailing his arms without any significant force in his punches for most of the bout. Vijender, on the other hand, was sharp as ever despite fighting his first bout in more than a year.
The Indian never looked threatened by the local favourite and thwarted his feeble attacks quite easily. Snider came into the fight with an overall record of 13-5-3.
Vijender, a former WBO Asia Pacific champion, recently fought and lost in the Indian general elections from the South Delhi seat.
Vijender would be aiming to compete in two more fights this year after signing up with Hall of Famer Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions.
"Top Rank has a bigger plan for me, and whatever they say is next, I'm fine with it," Vijender said.
Vijender's British trainer Lee Beard, who has been with the Indian ever since he turned pro in 2015, lauded his commitment.
"I am happy that after a long gap Vijender is finally back in good shape and action in the ring. His dedication helped him. We will now look forward to have bigger plans for him," he said.
Commenting on his defeat, Snider said, "Vijender is a good boxer and I believe I underestimated his experience and technique. It was his day and he won. I had never thought that I would lose in early rounds."
Vijender's India promoters IOS Boxing's Managing Director Neerav Tomar said bigger fights await the former Olympic medallist in the next few months.
And the winner is Vijender Singh.
— IOS Boxing (@IOSBoxing) July 14, 2019
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Vijender Singh remains undefeated by knocking out Michael Snider in 4th round in his US debut at Newark.
What a show @boxervijender.
You made whole India proud.
Keep up the good work.@trboxing@imneeravtomar
?#boxing #teamios #india pic.twitter.com/89SKIf2z4Q
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Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
