Press Trust of India
New Delhi, July 15: Undefeated in what has been a fast-rising professional career, boxer Vijender Singh is confident that he will win his middleweight title bout against Australian Kerry Hope here Saturday.
The 30-year-old Indian, who has won all his six pro bouts after turning pro via knockouts, will be up against his most experienced and accomplished rival so far as Hope is a former WBCC European champion with 23-7 win-loss record.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow (Saturday). I am fighting in Delhi after six years, Commonwealth Games being the last time and I am very excited about it,” said Vijender here Friday after the official weigh-in and face-off with Kerry.
None of Vijender’s opponents so far have quite matched up to him but Hope promises to be a tough customer. “I have trained very hard and I can see that he hasn’t. So I am very confident,” Hope, who weighed 74.9kg, said. “We will see tomorrow night,” came Vijender’s reply as he refused to be drawn into a verbal spat before the fight. The Indian came in at 75.7kg in the official weigh in.
An August gathering of sporting legends, politicians and actors will be in full attendance at the Thyagaraj stadium which is expected to draw a sizeable number of fans as well.
Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and, Gautam Gambhir will be in attendance from the cricketing world. Olympic medallists boxer MC Mary Kom and wrestler Sushil Kumar will also witness the fight.
Among the actors expected to add to the glam quotient are Irfan Khan, Randeep Hooda, Neha Dhupia, Diljit Dosanjh, Rannvijay, Baadshah, Jimmy Shergil and Raghu.
Should he win, Vijender would get a crack at the top 15 of WBO world rankings. “It will open the door for world title bouts, so that would be a career progression for me,” informed Vijender.
