Indian professional boxer Vijender Singh has defeated his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Maimaitialia on Saturday to retain his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight and claim the Chinese pugilist’s WBO Oriental Super Middleweight crown.
However, Vijender offered to give back the belt to Maimaitialia praying for peace between India and China amid a tense border standoff over the strategically important Doklam Plateau (in Bhutan) which is located on the strategic tri-junction of Bhutan, the Chumbi Valley in China and the state of Sikkim in India.
"I want to give back this belt toZulpikar. I hope for peace in the border and the message is about peace. That is most important," he said after winning the contest.
Vijender- an Olympic bronze medallist, won the bout by a unanimous decision in a tough 10-round bout in Mumbai.
The current Indo-China border impasse was triggered in June when the PLA engineers allegedly showed up at the disputed spot with road construction equipment and the India troops objected to it. The Doklam Plateau is perilously close to India’s Siliguri corridor which is also known as ‘Chicken’s neck’, due to it being a very narrow passage connecting the north eastern Indian states with rest of the country.
This is said to be the most serious standoff between the two countries in the last three decades with the state-run Chinese Media reminding India of the 1962 war when India suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chinese.
While there's a lot of chest thumping on in both the countries over the ongoing territorial dispute, the Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj recently told the Indian Parliament that diplomacy was the way forward in solving the current dispute with China.
With this win, Vijender Singh has continued his winning streak in the professional arena, winning back-to-back nine bouts. On the other hand, it was the first defeat of Zulpikar's professional career.
