Mumbai: Boxer Vijender Singh will look to clinch his second title and keep his unbeaten record intact when he takes on undefeated Chinese Zulipikaer Maimaitiali here Saturday.
The 31-year-old former Olympic bronze-medallist will be fighting his ninth professional fight and on the line would be his WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title. Maimaitiali’s WBO Oriental super middleweight title would also be up for grabs in the double title fight.
Vijender has been training in Manchester with his trainer Lee Beard for this bout, the first ticket of which was presented to cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar at the latter’s house by the boxer himself.
A confident Vijender has dubbed his Chinese opponent as inexperienced. “This is India versus China, I don’t need anything extra for motivation and I am excited, I know the whole of India is with me,” Vijender said at the weigh-in here Friday.
“I am very confident and hope that the fight will be good and India will win. Last night (Thursday) I checked my weight it was 78kg and I had to be 76.2, so I did not eat anything. My weight is 76.00 today (Friday), I will very much focus on diet,” added the boxer.
The Indian said his strategy would be responsive to how his opponent takes part in the bout.
“My strategy will depend on how he plays, I will set my game according to him. We have changed a lot in technique and we have worked on it,” Vijender pointed out. “He Maimaitiali is a strong kid, but I am ready for him.”
There will be seven other bouts Saturday, where the Olympian duo of Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar will be making their professional debuts.
Press Trust of India
