By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS,
Beijing : Vijender Kumar made sure of India’s first ever Olympic boxing medal by punching his way into the middleweight (75 kg) semifinal with an emphatic 9-4 victory over Ecuador’s Carlos Gongora here Wednesday.
The boxer-turned-model from the Bhiwani stable in the northern state of Haryana, won the lopsided quarterfinal bout, and now he will at least get a bronze.
Taking to the ring on a day the country won a surprising bronze in wrestling through freestyle (66 kg)competitor Sushil Kumar, Vijender never kept anyone in doubt about his victory since the bout started at the Workers’ Gymnasium.
In the opening round, the Indian went ahead 2-0, putting his lethal left hooks to good use while never dropping guard, and went on widening the gulf.
Even in the fourth and last round, he tried to accumulate more points instead of defending his lead.
The Ecuadorian tried his best to stage a comeback in the fourth round, picking up a couple of successive points, but by then the contest was more or less sealed by Vijender.