New Delhi: Continuing his winning spree, Indian boxing star Vijender Singh clinched his fifth successive knockout win by defeating Frenchman Matiouze Royer in London on Saturday.
Vijender was declared the winner little over a minute into the fifth round of the six-round super middleweight contest, which was incidentally his longest bout so far.
The 30-year-old also expressed confidence that boxer Amir Khan will overcome Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, paving the way for a potential mega-fight between himself and the Bolton fighter in India.
"I am happy to accept Amir's challenge but first he has the fight against Canelo to deal with," Singh told Sky Sports.
Speaking ahead of his Las Vegas showdown with Canelo next weekend, Khan had said he would relish a bout with Singh in the Haryana middleweight's homeland of India in the near future.
And three-time Commonwealth medallist Singh has welcomed Khan's challenge, insisting a bout between the two fighters can be a game-changer for boxing in India.
He was up against his most experienced rival till date in Royer, who came into the bout with an accumulated 250 rounds under his belt.
But the Indian did not seem perturbed in the six-round contest and was once again looking to wrap it up early like his previous bouts.
Vijender spent the first round getting a measure of his overtly cautious rival, who preferred to keep a shell guard and hardly attempted a hit at his taller opponent.
But that could not save him from a couple of telling body blows from Vijender, who was also impressive with his jabs.
The Frenchman was reluctant to let go of the guard even in the second round and Vijender took it upon himself to go on the offensive.
The Indian seemed set for an early finish when he had Royer cornered with a flurry of combination punches but the Frenchman did not give in despite being left with a bloodied face owing to a cut above the left eye.
To Royer’s credit, he withstood the onslaught and even tried to attack the dominant Indian but that was hardly enough to stop Vijender’s march to victory.
Royer’s determination finally broke in the fifth round after an unrelenting Vijender brought him to his knees with an onslaught of body blows.
The 29-year-old Frenchman could not continue after that because of his bloodied eye, giving Vijender yet another dominant victory.
(PTI inputs)
