Vijender Singh defeats Francis Cheka to retain WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title

India's Vijender Singh on 17 December 2016 knocked out Tanzania's Francis Cheka at the Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi, to defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title.

Singh took less than 10 minutes to knock Cheka out in the third round itself to retain the title.

The Haryana boxer had won the title in July 2016 by defeating WBC European champion Kerry Hope.

On the other hand, the Indian boxers dominated the undercard fights as well. In the first fight of the evening, Rajesh Kumar defeated Mubaraka Sseguya of Uganda in the Lightweight category. In the same category, Kuldeep Dhanda outpunched Egy Rozten of Indonesia. Deepak Tanwar emerged victorious in the Welterweight division by defeating Indonesian Sutriyono Bara Boys by technical knockout. In the Cruiserweight division, Dharmender Grewal overpowered Ugandan Abasi Kyobe by unanimous decision.

About World Boxing Organization (WBO)

• The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization, which recognizes professional boxing world champions.

• The WBO's headquarters are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

• It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups.

• The other three major world championship groups are the World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF).