Indian Tigers beat China Dragons 4-1 in WSB

Mandeep Jangra defeated Haerheng Wulepaer of China Dragons to register his first ever win in the World Series of Boxing format and guide the India Tigers to second consecutive victory here.

The India Tigers emerged 4-1 victorious at the National Boxing Academy here.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mandeep (75 kg) looked in ferocious form 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 tried to step up to his pace.

It was sheer power from Mandeep 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 won 3:0.

Earlier, Mohammad Etash Khan walloped Boxiang Zhu by a unanimous decision to hand the Tigers an unassailable 3-1 lead in their encounter against China Dragons.

In the high intensity bantamweight clash, Khan lived up to his favourite tag and brushed aside his opponent rather easily 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 intentionally keeping a near impregnable defence and landing his punches which made the Chinese bite the dust in the first round.

Khan 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 medallist Shyam Kumar (49 kg) exuded confidence while entering the ring.

However, Shyam did not 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 bomb Wu with his vicious hooks and uppercuts while keeping a safe distance.

With the Chinese Dragons missing a member in the 91 kg category and Qi (64 kg) falling sick before the clash, the Indian Tigers had a comfortable 2-0 lead before even the clash started.

But Wu was up to the task and closed in on the Indian to keep landing his combinations and kept him on his toes. Even after a valiant show inside the ring by Shyam, the Chinese Dragons' Wu landed cleaner punches and won the bout via a split decision.

The Indian Tigers will take on China Dragons in an away clash on April 27 and if they continue to dazzle, they will cement their place into the play-off rounds.