Vijender Singh fights with China Zulpikar Maimaitiali. (AP Photo)

MUMBAI: Professional boxing is all about creating a buzz, the more the better. And, that is what the promoters tried with 'Battleground Asia', the name given to the fight between India's star pugilist Vijender Singh and China's Zulpikar Maimaitiali at The Dome, NSCI here on Saturday evening.

The duo was contesting a double title fight, with Vijender, the reigning WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight champion, attempting to strip Maimaitiali of his WBO Oriental Super Middleweight belt. Like most fighters, the opponents had entered into a war of words in the run up to the bout, but on Saturday, it was time to let their fists do the talking.

And cheered on vociferously by a partisan crowd, Vijender prevailed at the end of the 10 rounds, winning on a unanimous decision. While the first judge scored the fight 96-93 in favour of the Indian, the other two judges gave it to Vijender by an identical 95-94 margin.

Both boxers got off to cautious starts trying to measure each other up in the first round, and by round two, it was evident that unlike most of his previous eight opponents, Vijender had some serious work to do if he was going to emerge triumphant. The 23-year-old Chinese southpaw was offering serious competition, but his inexperience showed up from time to time and he was warned by the referee for hitting the Indian below the waist in the sixth round. Vijender later expressed his willingness to return the Oriental belt to Zulpikar as a way of promoting friendship between India and China. "We put up a very good fight and as a mark of friendship, I want to give the belt to the young Chinese," Vijender said.

In the other title fight of the evening for the WBC Asia Welterweight belt, Neeraj Goyat took on Allan Tanada of Philippines and defended his title via an unanimous decision in the gruelling 12-round contest. In the earlier bouts, Jitender Kumar , a quarterfinalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, knocked his Thai opponent Thanet Likhitkamporn out in the second round on professional debut. The other Beijing quarterfinalist, Akhil Kumar , making his pro debut at 36, was awarded the match via technical knockout after his Australian opponent Ty Gilchrist could not continue having sustained an injury.

