No stopping Vijender Singh, claims 12th successive professional win
Dubai: Indian boxing star Vijender Singh demolished Ghana's former Commonwealth champion Charles Adamu to claim his 12th successive win and ensure that his four-year unbeaten streak in the professional circuit remained intact, here on Friday.
The 34-year-old former Olympic bronze-medallist, who holds the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental super middleweight belts, prevailed in a unanimous verdict in an eight-round contest against the 42-year-old Adamu.
The Indian's right hand was just too precise and powerful to handle for Adamu, who looked intimidated, kept a shell guard, and was thrown off-balance more than once.
"It was a good fight, Charles Adamu is a good fighter but I was fully prepared to tackle his punches and landed my punches perfectly on him. It's great to be here in Dubai and to get this win. It was really exciting," Vijender said after the bout.
I wanted to finish this fight in three-four rounds, it wet into late rounds but I am happy with how I performed," said the boxer from Bhiwani.
The Ghanian also copped a point deduction in the fourth round for excessive bending. To Adamu's credit, he fought through despite the onslaught and ensured that the bout went the full distance.
Adamu came into this fight with an experience of 47 bouts, of which he had won 33 (26 knockouts). The Ghanian is also an Olympian and won a bronze medal for his country in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur during his amateur days. But Adamu's wealth of experience didn't seem enough against an opponent, who was quicker and more powerful.
"I tried my best. I had made strategies after watching his videos but he was quite tough. I never expected him to be this good. I wish him the best for his coming bouts," Adamu said.
Vijender, who is promoted by Hall of Famer Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions in the USA and IOS Boxing in India, is hoping to fight for a world title next year.
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Indian economy likely to be 'a little weaker' in 2025: IMF MD
Washington, Jan 11: The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said.
Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US.
In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
Georgieva said she expects the Indian economy to be a little weaker in 2025. However, she did not explain it any further. The World Economy Outlook update week will have more details about it.
“The US is doing quite a bit better than we expected before, the EU is somewhat stalling, (and) India a little weaker," she said.
Brazil was facing somewhat higher inflation, she said.
In China, the world’s second-largest economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was seeing deflationary pressure and ongoing challenges with domestic demand, she said.
"Low-income countries, despite all the efforts they are making, are in a position when any new shock can affect them quite negatively,” Georgieva said.
“What we expect in 2025 is to have quite a lot of uncertainty, especially in terms of economic policies. Not surprisingly, given the size and role of the US economy, there is keen interest globally in the policy directions of the incoming administration, in particular on tariffs, taxes, deregulation and government efficiency,” Georgieva said.
“This uncertainty is particularly high around the path for trade policy going forward, adding to the headwinds facing the global economy, especially for countries and regions that are more integrated in global supply chains, medium-sized economies, (and) Asia as a region," she said.
That uncertainty is actually expressed globally through higher long-term interest rates, even though short-term interest rates have gone down, the IMF Managing Director said.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, replacing Joe Biden at the White House.
Trump, 78, has announced plans to impose additional tariffs on countries like China, Canada and Mexico. He has publicly announced the use of tariffs as a key policy tool.
On inflation, the IMF expects global disinflation to continue, Georgieva said.
"As we all recognise, the higher interest rates that were necessary to fight inflation did not push the world economy into recession. They have delivered the desired results. Headline inflation is converging back to target sooner in advanced economies than in emerging markets,” she said.
