Vijender Singh overpowered Francis Cheka in sensational fashion, ending the fight in the third round itself, by virtue of a TKO on a cold Saturday night at the Night of Champions in New Delhi.

Glitzy lights, showgirls, politicians and even godmen were present at the Thyagraj Stadium and Bhiwani’s best didn't disappoint when the spotlight shone brightly on him.

"This is my most satisfying win, have worked really hard for this," the boxer said, dedicating the victory to the soldiers martyred in 2016."Want to dedicate my win to the soldiers martyred in 2016. Got depressed to hear of the three soldiers death," he said.

The organisers had promised a visual spectacle and with plenty of sideshows in between each bouts, not least a psychedelic dance performance, one wondered if the Singh-Cheka fight may not live up to the hype. But, it did live up and more, as the Delhiites present raised the roof even as Vijender went 8-0 in his fledgling boxing career.

The fight started with Vijender on the back foot, as the wizened Cheka took the initiative, as one felt perhaps the brash pre-fight talk of the Tanzanian had affected the Haryana lad."Was playing with him, didn’t want to put him down so early in the fight," Vijender added with a wry smile.

Round 1 ended in Vijender’s favour without a doubt. However, the Indian boxer kept his guard up and let loose a few jabs when the opportunity presented itself. The second round started in the same vein and ended in similar fashion, as Singh’s counter-attacking time and time again stymied the Tanzanian who just seemed unable to get past his taller opponent.

"Cheka tried to bite me, my corner told me to remain calm… After my right hook connected in the second round, I knew he would fall soon," Vijender revealed.

The stadium was packed and the crowd bayed for blood, wanting Singh to end the fight early as they sensed somehow that the fight wasn't going to last the whole ten rounds.And after a minute and 56 seconds into the third round, the referee decided enough was enough as Cheka seemed unable to recover from a lightning one-two combo from the Bhiwani sensation.Even after the fight, Vijender refused to trash-talk his opponent, proudly proclaiming: “Cheka likes to talk a lot, I prefer punching. My mantra is simple: Punch Power.” 

In the other bouts on the night, the Indian boxers almost made it a clean sweep, as Australian Scott Edwards played spoilsport in the final undercard fight, defeating Pardeep Kharera by unanimous decision. Rajesh Kumar had won the first bout by split decision over Ugandan Mubaraka Seguya in the Lightweight category. Deepak Tanwar then outclassed Sutriyono from Indonesia in the 67kg category before Dharmendar Grewal outboxed Ugandan Abasi Kyobe of Uganda. Kuldeep Dhanda then got the partisan crowd to their feet with yet another unanimous decision in favour of an Indian boxer.

"Was surprised by the ease, but glad we stuck to our gameplay," a happy Vijender said, adding he was not tired even after the bout.

A visibly relieved Vijender confirmed he is looking to challenge for the title and suggested perhaps his next bout will not be in the country, after having fought here twice this year already.“I'm looking at perhaps going back to England, or perhaps China, actually even Dubai is a possibility” said Vijender when pressed about his next bouts venue.He, however, added, "Not necessary that next fight is abroad, might box in Mumbai or Chennai even."

After having seen his meteoric rise since 2015 in the pro boxing circuit, it seems it is only a matter of time before he gets a tilt at the world title.Meanwhile, when asked about the Night of Champions being held amid the demonetisation tension in the capital, Neerav Tomar, MD and CEO IOS Sports and Entertainment, said, "We had debated to shift the fight due to demonetisation."

"Initially, we weren’t selling much, but stuff picked up. Last three days were phenomenal," he added.