Olympic bronze medallist and middle weight (75kg) top seed Vijender Singh started his campaign in style, beating Kazakhstan's Azamat Belgibayev to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the World Boxing Championships in Milan, on Saturday.

The 23-year-old world number two, who was conferred the Khel Ratna award last month, defeated his rival 14-8.

The Haryana-boxer will take on Canadian Steve Rolls, who got the better of local favourite Luca Podda, on September 8, in the next round.

Vijender, who got a bye in the first round, was on the backfoot early on and was trailing 0-3 in the first round but staged a remarkable comeback in the next two rounds.

He made it 9-8 in the second round before blanking his rival in the final round to finish 14-8.

"I am relieved and very happy. It's great to start off with a win," Vijender said.