Mandeep Jangra thumped Haerheng Wulepaer of China Dragons to register his first ever win in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) format and guided the Indian Tigers to the second consecutive victory with a 4-1 score at the National Boxing Academy here on Sunday.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist looked in ferocious form in the middleweight (75 kilogram) bout as he set off from the word go and looked to finish his opponent off early on.
He nonchalantly kept landing his powerful punches as the Chinese struggled to match his pace.
It was sheer power from the Arjuna Awardee as he dominated the proceedings, whereas, the Chinese had no answers except to lock his arm for which he was even warned.
The Indian kept on attacking giving no respite to the Chinese and eventually went on to win 3:0.
Earlier, Mohammad Etash Khan walloped Boxiang Zhu by unanimous decision to hand the Tigers an unassailable 3-1 lead in their encounter China Dragons.
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In the high intensity bantamweight (56kg) clash, Muhammed Etash Khan lived up to his favourite tag and brushed aside his opponent with rather ease to ensure a second consecutive win for the Tigers.
The 19-year-old pugilist from Manipur who came into the contest with the hosts leading 2:1, moved around the ring intently keeping a near impregnable defence and landing his punches which even made the Chinese taste the dust in the first round.
Etash looked a class-apart and connected almost everything that he threw at his opponent to leave him battered and bruised in the middle of the squared ring.
In the WSB opener against the Dragons, three-time King's cup gold medalist Shyam Kumar Kakara (49kg) exuded confidence while entering the ring.
However, Shyam didn't have the best of starts as the Chinese landed a few quick jabs on him. But, he tried to take advantage of his reach and tried to bomb Wu with his vicious hooks and uppercuts while keeping a safe distance.
With the Chinese Dragons missing a member in the heavyweight (91kg) category and Qi (64kg) falling sick before the clash, the Indian Tigers had a comfortable 2-0 lead before the clash even started.
--IANS
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