<div>Indian boxing star Vijender Singh's power-packed punches went unchallenged yet again as he notched up his fifth successive knockout win by battering Frenchman Matiouze Royer here today.<br /><br />Vijender was declared winner little over a minute into the fifth round of the six-round super middleweight contest, which was incidentally his longest bout so far.<br /><br />The 30-year-old was up against his most experienced rival till date in Royer, who came into the bout with an accumulated 250 rounds under his belt.<br /><br />But the Indian did not seem perturbed in the six-round contest and was once again looking to wrap it up early like his previous bouts.<br /><br />Vijender spent the first round getting a measure of his overtly cautious rival, who preferred to keep a shell guard and hardly attempted a hit at his taller opponent.<br /><br />But that could not save him from a couple of telling body blows from Vijender, who was also impressive with his jabs.<br /><br />The Frenchman was reluctant to let go of the guard even in the second round and Vijender took it upon himself to go on the offensive.<br /><br />The Indian seemed set for an early finish when he had Royer cornered with a flurry of combination punches but the Frenchman did not give in despite being left with a bloodied face owing to a cut above the left eye.<br /><br />To Royer's credit, he withstood the onslaught and even tried to attack the dominant Indian but that was hardly enough to stop Vijender's march to victory.<br /><br />Royer's determination finally broke in the fifth round after an unrelenting Vijender brought him to his knees with an onslaught of body blows.<br /><br />The 29-year-old Frenchman could not continue after that because of his bloodied eye, giving Vijender yet another dominant victory. <br /><br />Vijender will next be seen in action on May 13 in Bolton against a yet-to-be-decided opponent.<br /><br />"I am happy with my fifth knockout win in a row. Facing an experienced boxer was not that easy for me but I played as per my basics and tried some new punches which helped me to win against Matiouze Royer," said India's first Olympic and World Championships medallist.<br /><br />"The best part is that I started attacking Matiouze Royer from the starting of first round and my confidence level was gone up. With this win my morale is really up and I am confident of doing well in all future fights. My amateur experience is helping me but pro is totally different game, so I am looking forward to my next bout on 13 May before the WBO Asia Title fight in India," he added.<br /><br />The Haryana-lad also lauded his rival for his grit. "He showed he is a good fighter and I respect him for how he performed. But today, I was able to execute my plans better," he said. <br /></div>
<div>Indian boxing star Vijender Singh's power-packed punches went unchallenged yet again as he notched up his fifth successive knockout win by battering Frenchman Matiouze Royer here today.<br /><br />Vijender was declared winner little over a minute into the fifth round of the six-round super middleweight contest, which was incidentally his longest bout so far.<br /><br />The 30-year-old was up against his most experienced rival till date in Royer, who came into the bout with an accumulated 250 rounds under his belt.<br /><br />But the Indian did not seem perturbed in the six-round contest and was once again looking to wrap it up early like his previous bouts.<br /><br />Vijender spent the first round getting a measure of his overtly cautious rival, who preferred to keep a shell guard and hardly attempted a hit at his taller opponent.<br /><br />But that could not save him from a couple of telling body blows from Vijender, who was also impressive with his jabs.<br /><br />The Frenchman was reluctant to let go of the guard even in the second round and Vijender took it upon himself to go on the offensive.<br /><br />The Indian seemed set for an early finish when he had Royer cornered with a flurry of combination punches but the Frenchman did not give in despite being left with a bloodied face owing to a cut above the left eye.<br /><br />To Royer's credit, he withstood the onslaught and even tried to attack the dominant Indian but that was hardly enough to stop Vijender's march to victory.<br /><br />Royer's determination finally broke in the fifth round after an unrelenting Vijender brought him to his knees with an onslaught of body blows.<br /><br />The 29-year-old Frenchman could not continue after that because of his bloodied eye, giving Vijender yet another dominant victory. <br /><br />Vijender will next be seen in action on May 13 in Bolton against a yet-to-be-decided opponent.<br /><br />"I am happy with my fifth knockout win in a row. Facing an experienced boxer was not that easy for me but I played as per my basics and tried some new punches which helped me to win against Matiouze Royer," said India's first Olympic and World Championships medallist.<br /><br />"The best part is that I started attacking Matiouze Royer from the starting of first round and my confidence level was gone up. With this win my morale is really up and I am confident of doing well in all future fights. My amateur experience is helping me but pro is totally different game, so I am looking forward to my next bout on 13 May before the WBO Asia Title fight in India," he added.<br /><br />The Haryana-lad also lauded his rival for his grit. "He showed he is a good fighter and I respect him for how he performed. But today, I was able to execute my plans better," he said. <br /></div>