Vijender warms up for Thai revenge

The Worker’s Stadium is an imposing arena. It’s just the perfect stage for a brutal contact sport like boxing, an open house where spectators give vent to their emotions and bare their passion in an uninhibited manner. If you want to hold back, walk away. This is not the place for you.
Vijender Kumar, the tall, goodlooking middleweight (75kg) boxer from Bhiwani walked into this
set-up at 8.30 pm to the soothing voice of Harry Belafonte. Strange music for a sport like boxing; you would rather expect Survivor’s ‘Eye of Tiger’ to be blaring from the speakers. The music stopped and then came the dramatic introduction, almost in WWF style.
Vijender got down to business after and walked away from the ring after 10 minutes, raising his right arm in salute and tapping his chest twice __ the magical right that pulverized his first round opponent from Gambia, Jack Badou.Vijender flowed in the fight, dancing, ducking and punching with ferocity.
He took time to warm up, which made the Gambian look good for a while. After that the 23-year-old Indian took control. He raced to a 6-1 lead in the second round, went ahead 9-2 in the third and wrapped it up at 13-2.
‘‘Mazaa aaya (I enjoyed the fight),’’ he said later. ‘‘It’s always good to get going in the first round. I had never played him before. It felt good out there. Yes, the right worked well. I’m ready for a tougher bout,’’ he added.
Well, that’s just coming up. Vijender now runs into Thai boxer Chompuphuang Angkha, an outright showman who outclassed his Korean opponent. ‘‘Yes, I know him. I have boxed with him earlier in the President’s Cup. He beat me by four points then. Abhi badle ka time hai (it’s time for revenge now),’’ Vijender said, clenching his fist.
The other bout featuring an Indian was an anti-climax. Light heavyweight (81kg) boxer Dinesh Kumar was put through the wringer by Algerian boxer Benchabla Abdulhafid.
After the first 30 seconds, with Dinesh keeping it level at 2-2, the Algerian southpaw opened up. Dinesh, an aggressive boxer who plays with an open style, soon walked into trouble and took a severe beating before referee stopped contest in the third round with the score at 23-3. Three other boxers are yet to feature here at the Games Akhil Kumar, Jitender and AL Lakra.