In a closely contested double-title fight at the Sardar Patel Indoor Stadium in Mumbai, a docked point for multiple low blows proved pivotal, as Vijender Singh secured a debatable, unanimous decision win against Zulpikar Maimaitiali.
The three judges ringside scored the 10-round bout 96-93, 95-94, 95-94 in Vijender's favour. A point was deducted from Zulpikar's score in the sixth round, without which the bout would likely have been scored 96-94, 95-95 95-95 -- a draw. However, even that score would have been favourable to the 31-year-old Indian who was on wobbly legs for the final three rounds of the contest against the 23-year-old from China.
As such, Vijender improved his record to 9-0-0, including seven knockouts, while Zulpikar fell to 9-1-1, with six knockouts. The win meant Vijender defended his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight belt while also claiming Zulpikar's WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt.
While Vijender kept his unbeaten record, he was at the favourable end of a verdict that will do him few favours when he takes on stiffer opponents in the future. Here are four reasons why Vijender was lucky to take the decision.
Lack of preparation
Going into the contest, Vijender had said he expected to wrap up a quick victory. He had made unfavourable comparisons of Maimaitiali to substandard quality Chinese goods. "Chinese maal hai, nahi chalega (Chinese goods aren't durable)," he had said. It was a rather chastened Indian who spoke after the win. "I thought China maal nahi chalega but this match surprised me," he said.
In the run-up to the bout, Vijender had said he had not really looked at many videos of Maimaitiali. He said he had delegated that responsibility to his coach Lee Beard. In all his contests so far, Vijender had mostly been the aggressor, throwing punches unanswered. Against Maimaitiali, he came up against a fighter who walked through his best punches, delivered with interest and had stopping power of his own. It was an unfamiliar scenario for Vijender and one that he found hard to navigate.
Poor conditioning
Vijender's camp would definitely be surprised with the way their fighter visibly gassed towards the end of the 10-round contest. Over the course of his career Vijender had only gone the distance once before -- against Kerry Hope last year. But the Australian was the smaller fighter in that contest -- having fought as a middleweight until then -- and had mostly soaked up punishment. On Saturday, Vijender faced an opponent who was the same size as he was and could not be bullied around the ring. Vijender would go on to say that the low blows he took in the first half of the contest slowed his game down. However, a definite concern will be Vijender's lack of match fitness -- the bout was his first in eight months and the gap played its part.
Struggle under pressure
One of Vijender's biggest strengths right from his amateur days has been his calmness in the ring. He works methodically behind his left jab, counting on his accuracy as a puncher. While he throws few punches, Vijender counts on landing them. Much has been made of his ramrod jab and a heavy right hand, but against Maimaitiali he missed the majority of his shots as the Chinese boxer closed distance effectively.
Vijender's punching in the pocket was ineffective, with trainer Beard animatedly yelling at him to throw an uppercut that never materialized. His footwork has always been a bit robotic and particularly unsteady against southpaws, but as Maimaitiali kept the pressure towards the final few rounds, it grew sloppier still.
Maimaitiali's lead right foot consistently found its way outside Vijender's lead left, making it harder for the latter to find his opponent. Indeed, it was only Maimaitiali's inexperience as a fighter and his inability to put together combinations cohesively that prevented him from making the most of the advantage he found himself with. Vijender will undoubtedly rise in the WBO rankings, but his performance in this particular bout will not make other contenders worry.
Friendly scoring
As the home boxer, Vijender was always going to get the benefit of the doubt in a close decision. With his right eye swelling and nose spurting blood at multiple times in the bout, it was a far more damaged body that had its hand raised by the referee.
At the end of 10 rounds, the judges had scored the bout 96-93, 95-94 and 95-94. This meant that the first judge had Vijender winning six rounds out of 10 and scoring an improbable 10-8 to Vijender in the sixth round where Maimaitiali was docked a point for a low blow. This implied that Vijender had won that round even without the low blow. The same round saw Vijender take a knee from a left hook to the head which the referee strangely ruled a slip. With Maimaitiali easily winning the last four rounds, the first round and largely being the aggressor from rounds two to six where there was very little between the two boxers, a draw was probably the fairest decision for the bout.
However, in fairness, the scoring was not the most egregious of the evening with Neeraj Goyat winning a 119-109, 119-109, 118-110 decision in a bout that was a lot closer than that scoreline suggested.