A few days back, Vijender Singh had boasted that he had faced much tougher boxers than Zulpikar Maimaitiali. On Saturday, a bloodied Vijender admitted that he didn’t expect to be taken the full distance of 10 rounds by the 23-year-old.

Vijender Singh (L) during his bout against Zulpikar Maimaitiali of China. AFP

The Indian, who is used to winning with TKOs and KOs, won the match by one of his closest margins to date after the three judges scored the fight 96-93, 95-94, 95-94.

Courtesy the win, he now owns the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt along with the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight belt.

The other double title fight of the night, saw Neeraj Goyat defend his WBC Asian Welterweight title against Allan Tanada of Philippines.

In another significant fight of the night, India’s Akhil Kumar beat Ty Gilchrist by a technical knockout. Ty was on top throughout the fight, even drawing blood. However, Ty said after the second round he would be unable to continue, thus handing the Indian his first professional win.