At the age of 26, Vikan is a sensational prospect at 154 pounds. A former amateur standout who competed at the elite international level, he is widely considered the greatest boxer in India history.
He made his pro debut on January 18 in Verona, New York, and won by second-round TKO against Steven Andrade.
Fightnews.com’s Bob Caico reported from ringside [excerpts]: Super welterweight Vikas Krishan dominated Steven Andrade in his professional debut, stopping him at 2:31 of round two.
The 26-year-old southpaw Krishan represented his homeland at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, and became the only Indian fighter in history to capture gold medals at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games.
Krishan landed several combinations, but his body work finally dropped Andrade to a knee. Calmly he continued his attack and after a series of un-answered combinations, [the] referee wisely called a halt to the contest. [End Caico item]
In his post-fight interview, Vikas said, “I want to thank my team for helping me have a successful professional debut. This is only the start of my professional journey. ‘The Indian Tank’ is coming.”
From a Top Rank press release [Nov. 15, 2018]: Top Rank announced today it has signed the most decorated amateur boxer in Indian history, Vikas “The Indian Tank” Krishan, to a multi-year promotional agreement.
Krishan, an Olympian in 2012 and 2016 and the only Indian fighter in history to capture gold medals at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games, is scheduled to make his professional debut.
“Top Rank is the best promotional company in the world,” Krishan said. “I’m going to be a world champion as a pro. No Indian has ever done that before. When I win a title, I’m going to be more famous in India than the movie stars.”
“Vikas is a tremendous young man who we expect great things from,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum. “He is going to be our Indian Marvelous Marvin Hagler!”
“Before his first pro bout, he is already the best fighter in the history of India,” said David McWater, Krishan’s manager. “His accomplishments and charisma set him apart. We can’t wait to get started.”
Krishan is from Haryana, where he picked up the sport at the age of 10. He spent more than a decade in the Indian amateur system and won a gold medal at the 2010 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships.
In 2012, at the London Olympics, he defeated current IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. via 13-11 decision, only for the decision to be controversially overturned five hours later due to various fouls Krishan committed during the bout.
In the 2016 Olympics, Krishan advanced to the quarterfinal round, defeating highly touted U.S. Olympian Charles Conwell in the Round of 32.
Earlier this year, he won Commonwealth gold and a bronze medal at the Asian Games, becoming the first three-time Asian Games medalist in Indian history.
As a pro, he is going to train with Wali Moses in Newark, N.J., and with the Indian National Team in Punjab, India. [End Top Rank item]
AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: From wikipedia.com: Vikas was born in Singhwa Khas village in Hisar district. His father, Krishan Kumar Yadav, is an employee in the Electricity Department. In 1994, he came to Bhiwani along with his father, who was transferred to this city.
In 2003, at the age of 10, Vikas joined the Bhiwani Boxing Club. Later, he received training in the Army Sports Institute at Pune.
After his premature exit from the 2012 Olympics, Yadav took a year off from boxing and focused on completing his education at the Kurukshetra University and his training with the Haryana State Police. Presently, Yadav is DSP in Haryana Police. [End wikipedia.com item]
AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:
2018 ASIAN GAMES – Jakarta, Indonesia, 165 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 8-27-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Tanveer Ahmed of Pakistan; in the quarterfinals on 8-29-18 he won a 3-2 decision against Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China; in the semifinals on 8-31-18 he lost by walkover against Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan…
2018 CHEMISTRY CUP – Halle, Germany, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 6-20-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Michael Nevin of Ireland; in the quarterfinals on 6-21-18 he lost a 4-1 decision against Arlen Lopez of Cuba…
2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES – Gold Coast, Australia, 165 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 4-8-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Campbell Somerville of Australia; in the quarterfinals on 4-11-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Benny Muziyo of Zambia; in the semifinals on 4-13-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Stephen Donnelly of Ireland; in the finals on 4-14-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Dieudonne Seyi Ntsengue of Cameroon…
2018 STRANDJA MEMORIAL – Sofia, Bulgaria, 165 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 2-21-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Amer Gnifid of Morocco; in the quarterfinals on 2-22-18 he won a 3-2 decision against Kulakhmet Tursynbai of Kazakhstan; in the semifinals on 2-24-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China; in the finals on 2-25-18 he won a 4-1 decision against Troy Isley of the United States…
2018 INDIAN SELECTION TRIALS – Patiala, India, 165 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 1-13-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Venhlimpuia; in the finals on 1-14-18 he won a 5-0 decision against Mandeep Jangra…
2017 AIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Hamburg, Germany, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 8-27-17 he lost a 5-0 decision against Benjamin Whittaker of England…
2017 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 5-1-17 he stopped Patomsak Kattiya of Thailand in the 1st round; in the quarterfinals on 5-3-17 he won a 5-0 decision against Bram Betaubun of Indonesia; in the semifinals on 5-5-17 he lost by walkover against Lee Dong-Jin of Korea…
2017 INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT – Bangkok, Thailand, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 4-4-17 he lost a 5-0 decision against Erik Alzhanov of Kazakhstan…
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES – Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 8-9-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Charles Conwell of the United States; in his second fight on 8-12-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Onder Sipal; in the quarterfinals on 8-15-16 he lost a 3-0 decision against Bektemir Melikuziyev of Uzbekistan…
2016 WORLD OLYMPIC QUALIFIER – Baku, Azerbaijan, 165 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-20-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Makoto Takahashi of Japan; in his second fight on 6-21-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Zaal Kvachatadze of Georgia; in the quarterfinals on 6-23-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Lee Dong-Jin of Korea; in the semifinals on 6-24-16 he lost by walkover against Arslanbek Achilov of Turkmenistan…
2016 ASIAN/OCEANIAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER – Qian’an, China, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 3-27-16 he lost a 3-0 decision against Zhao Minggang of China…
2015 AIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Doha, Qatar, 165 pounds: in his first fight on 10-6-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Zoltan Harcsa of Hungary; in his second fight on 10-8-15 he won a 2-1 decision against Tomasz Jabłoński of Poland; in the quarterfinals on 10-10-15 he lost a 3-0 decision against Hossam Bakr Abdin of Egypt…
2015 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – Bangkok, Thailand, 165 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 8-30-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Arslanbek Achilov of Turkmenistan; in the quarterfinals on 9-1-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Truong Dinh Hoang of Vietnam; in the semifinals on 9-4-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Wahid Abderredha of Iraq; in the finals on 9-5-15 he lost a 2-0 decision against Bektemir Melikuziyev of Uzbekistan…
2015 INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT – Doha, Qatar, 165 pounds: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 5-22-15 he lost a 2-1 decision against Daniel Lewis of Australia…
2014 ASIAN GAMES – Incheon, South Korea, 165 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-29-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Azamat Kanybek uulu of Kyrgyzstan; in the quarterfinals on 9-30-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Hurshid Normatov of Uzbekistan; in the semifinals on 10-2-14 he lost a 2-1 decision against Janibek Alimkhanuly of Kazakhstan…
2012 OLYMPIC GAMES – London, England, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 8-3-12 he lost a 15-13 decision against Errol Spence Jr. of the United States…
2012 PRESIDENT’S CUP – Almaty, Kazakhstan, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 5-1-12 he won an 11-5 decision against Madiyar Ashkeyev of Kazakhstan; in the quarterfinals on 5-3-12 he lost a 9-7 decision against Bakhytzhan Kozhabekov of Kazakhstan…
2012 GRAND PRIX – Usti, Czech Republic, 152 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 3-22-12 he won a 13-2 decision against Evgeniy Dauhaliavets of Belarus; in the semifinals on 3-23-12 he lost a 14-8 decision against Arisnoide Despaigne of Cuba…
2011 OLYMPIC TEST EVENT – London, England, 152 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 11-26-11 he won a 9-6 decision against Ismet Eynullayev of Azerbaijan; in the finals on 11-27-11 he lost by walkover against Maimatti Tusunqiong of China…
2011 AIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Baku, Azerbaijan, 152 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-29-11 he won a 16-8 decision against Asadullo Boimurodov of Kyrgyzstan; in his second fight on 10-2-11 he had a 10-10 draw, but won the tiebreaker against Magomed Nurutdinov of Belarus; in his third fight on 10-4-11 he won a 14-7 decision against Onder Sipal of Turkey; in the quarterfinals on 10-5-11 he won a 9-8 decision against Vasili Belous of Moldavia; in the semifinals on 10-7-11 he lost a 15-12 decision against Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine…
2011 GIRALDO CORDOVA CARDIN MEMORIAL – Havana, Cuba, 152 pounds: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 6-4-11 he lost a 28-8 decision against Carlos Banteur of Cuba…
2010 ASIAN GAMES – Guangzhou, China, 132 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 11-17-10 he won an 8-1 decision against Sailom Ardee of Thailand; in his second fight on 11-19-10 he won an 8-1 decision against Amangeldy Hudaybergenov of Turkmenistan; in the quarterfinals on 11-21-10 he won a 4-2 decision against Chol-Song Kim of North Korea; in the semifinals on 11-24-10 he won a 7-0 decision against Hurshid Tajibayev of Uzbekistan; in the finals on 11-25-10 he won a 5-4 decision against Hu Qing of China…
2010 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES – Singapore, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 8-21-10 he won a 7-2 decision against Hrayr Matevosyan of Armenia; in the semifinals on 8-22-10 he lost a 4-3 decision against Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania…
2010 AIBA YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Baku, Azerbaijan, 132 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 4-26-10 he stopped Hamidreza Roomani of Iran in the 1st round; in his second fight on 4-28-10 he won a 7-3 decision against Patrik Rajcsanyi of Slovakia; in his third fight on 4-29-10 he won an 8-3 decision against Eduards Gutmans of Latvia; in the quarterfinals on 4-30-10 he won an 8-0 decision against Michael O’Reilly of Ireland; in the semifinals on 5-2-10 he won an 8-0 decision against Thomas Vahrenholdt of Germany; in the finals on 5-3-10 he won a 4-3 decision against Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania…
2008 COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES – Pune, India, 125 pounds: in his first fight on 10-14-08 he won an 11-1 decision against Steven Wilcox of Canada; in the quarterfinals on 10-15-08 he lost a 16-10 decision against Iain Weaver of England…
2008 INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR TOURNAMENT – Volgograd, Russia, 112 pounds: in his first fight on 2-19-08 he lost a 25-17 decision against Alexandr Kuznetsov of Russia…
2007 WORLD CADET CHAMPIONSHIPS – Baku, Azerbaijan, 105 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-1-07 he won a 21-9 decision against Sherzodjon Isakyonov of Uzbekistan; in his second fight on 9-3-07 he won a 29-15 decision against Vladimir Gavrilov of Russia; in the quarterfinals on 9-5-07 he won an 18-12 decision against Elvin Mamishzade of Azerbaijan; in the semifinals on 9-7-07 he won a 28-16 decision against Louie Byrd of the United States; in the finals on 9-8-07 he won a 20-14 decision against Ciprian Apodiresei of Romania…
