Vijender Singh tells MiD DAY that he fought his gold medal bout with one hand after hurting the other against world champion Abbos Atoev yesterday

Blood and sweat is the stuff champions are made up of. India's Beijing Olympic bronze medal-winning boxer Vijender Singh proved this at the Foshan Lingnan Mingzhou Gymnasium where he totally dominated two-time World Champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan in the 75kg gold medal bout yesterday.

Powerful blow:u00a0Vijender Singh (right) competes with Abbos Atoev of
Uzbekistan during the 75kg boxing final yesterday. Pic/AFP

Vijender won the bout 7-0 and extracted sweet revenge from Atoev, who had beaten the Indian at the World Championships in Milan earlier this year. "I was very disappointed after that fight in Milan because it's every boxer's dream to be a world champion. But today I have got my revenge," Vijender told MiD DAY.

The Bhiwani boxer went into the contest with a plan. "I have fought against him before, so I knew his style. My plan was to get a good measure of him before mounting a controlled attack. The plan worked," said Vijender.

Slowly
The Indian began slowly but surely. A powerful left earned Vijender his first point and rattled Atoev. A right from the Indian saw Round One end 2-0. In Round Two, Vijender began attacking with right -- a right-left combination got him two points in succession after which another right kissing Atoev's left cheek made it 5-0. Round Three saw the Uzbekistan fighter try to make a comeback but Vijender held his guard well and picked up two more points on counters off his right.

Such was Vijender's intensity and eagerness to win the gold yesterday, that it didn't even occur to him that he had dislocated his left arm in the first punch he landed on Atoev's face. "I gave him a hard punch (in Round One) and the impact of that dislocated my left arm, but I kept fighting.

I literally fought him with only one hand because I could not put too much power into my left hand thereafter," added Vijender, who was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital to get his hand attended too.

"Thankfully, the doctor has said that it's only a dislocation and that I would need just a week's rest. I can be back in action after that," said Vijender, who showed no signs of pain through the nine-minute final.

Even as he stood on the podium to receive his first ever gold medal in a major international competition, there were no signs of pain on Vijender's face. Instead, he thumped his chest in pride even as he mounted the topmost step and listen to the national anthem. "It's a proud feeling to hear that anthem being played for you," he said.

Vijender also saluted the Indian boxing contingent for a fine show in Guangzhou. "The boxers have done very well to win as many as nine medals (two gold, three silver and four bronze). This our best ever boxing performance in the Asian Games." Vijender was spot-on, just like his seven blows across World Champion Atoev's face!