Vijender Singh’s unbeaten record in professional boxing came to an end after being defeated by Russia’s Artysh Lopsan in the ‘Battle on Ship’. India’s Vijender is a bronze medalist who won it at the 2008 Olympic Games when hosted in Beijing. He turned professional boxer in 2015 and had a record of 12-0 record before entering the ‘Battle on Ship’ event.
As the boxing fight started Lopsan took the higher ground against Vijender Singh by capitalizing his height pushing the Indian to be cautious.
In the second round, the Russian boxer came out of his shell and showed his class against a legend such as Vijender Singh. Lopsan threw better punches and made solid blocks throughout the fight.
The fight took place on the rooftop of the ‘Majestic Pride Casino’ ship. This was Lopsan’s 7th fight in his pro boxing career and he went on to beat Vijender Singh in front of his opponent’s crowd. The Haryana-born fighter tried his best to defend himself from Lopsan’s energetic blows. Due to this, it was evidently seen that Vijender was troubled and drained out. Also, the Russian was at his best form unlike during his previous fights. In the 5th round at one minute and nine seconds, the referee intervened the bout and declared Lopsan as the winner with the result being announced as a knockout.
In an interview after the match, Lopsan said he is glad to be the first person to put an end to the Indian Juggernaut’s winning streak. He also said his strategy worked against the Indian and that is something significant as Vijender is a good fighter. He thanked the individuals who made it possible for him to have this bout and pointed out it as a wonderful experience.
While a dejected Vijender Singh said it as a good fight. He also credited Lopsan as a young and strong fighter. But he assured the audiences that he would come back stronger and beat the Russian in Moscow.
In the co-main event welterweight division Neeraj Goyat won over his rival Sandeep Kumar by a knockout. In the lightweight division, Chennai’s Sabari J defeated Amey Kalambe. In the lightweight division, Karthik Satish Kumar defeated