India’s ace pugilist Vikas Krishan Yadav took a huge step towards a professional boxing career by comfortably beating Kenya’s Nickson Abaka in the first ever APB Boxing Night in India, at the Great India Place Mall in Noida on a raucous Saturday night.
Vikas Krishan Yadav sizing up his opponent while he beat his opponent Nickson Abaka with a score line of 60-54 at the APB Pro Boxing Night held at Noida
In front of an adoring packed house, with Tri-Colours flying from every nook and corner, Vikas looked totally at ease and in control as he won the middleweight category bout by a unanimous 3-0 decision, with a total score of 60 to 54.
The victory underlines the fact that he is back in top shape and is a strong contender to make it to the Rio Olympics from the Olympic Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan. Just in case something goes wrong there, he can now hope to qualify as a pro boxer thanks to the fight today. He needed a second AIBA Pro Boxing bout under his belt to give himself a shot during the qualifiers for pro boxers in Venezuela later.
“This is a great day for Indian boxing,” said Rohit Jain, the host and sponsor of India’s first APB Boxing Night.
Fighting only in his second six-round bout in his fledgling pro boxing career, Vikas looked agile and sharp on his feet, not giving his much experienced rival Abaka any chance.
“It was a very important win for me because it has boosted me up for the upcoming Olympic qualifiers. It was not necessary for me to win but going into a tournament with a win helps a lot mentally,” said Vikas, immediately after the fight.
“I had lowered my guard today more than usual as I maintained a considerable distance from him and tried to get the better off him by using my speed. I wanted to show the crowd what technical boxing is all about and I guess I was successful in doing that,” he added.
Vikas who walked into the arena to a popular Bollywood song was cheered vociferously by the packed crowd at the venue. The entire atmosphere at the Mall was like a carnival, with kids and adults, men and women, enjoying the fare.
“The first punch that I landed on him was very crucial. He could not recover after that. I could figure it out by the way he was moving and I took full advantage of it,” said the 25 year old Indian boxer.
Vikas leaves with the Indian contingent for Baku on Sunday.