“Knockout King” Vijender Singh to fight China’s undefeated ZulpikarAMaimaitiali on August 5 in Mumbai.
IOS Boxing Promotions announced Asia’s biggest boxing event on Indian soil. The event will be headlined by Vijender Singh and Chinese No.1 WBO Oriental Super Middleweight Champion Zulpikar Maimatiali. The fight will be a double title bout, with Vijender’s WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title on the line. The announcement was made at a press conference at Hotel Sea Princess, Juhu.
Vijender’s opponent Zulpikar Maimatiali is also undefeated in his 8 bouts so far. He has 5 knockouts and has fought 24 rounds. Zulpikar, like Vijender, turned pro in 2015. He won the Oriental Super Middleweight title last year against African boxer Thomas Shamali.
Vijender has been on a tear since turning pro two years ago. He has fought 8 bouts , with 7 being knockouts. He has 30 rounds under his belt, which gives a slight edge to him over the Chinese opponent.
Zulpikar expressed his confidence ahead if the bout, ” I am looking forward to this fight. This will be the first time I will fight in India. I have heard a lot about Vijender Singh. He is unbesten, but I am going to break his streak. I am the toughest challenger for him. I am going to snatch his title.”
On the challenge of the fight with Zulpikar, “I look forward to this fight. I don’t get scared of words. They are just mind games ahead of the fight. I have had people challenge me earlier and the result is in front of you. Mark my words, on August 5, I will be wearing two belts.”
Battleground Asia will see the debut of two Indian pugilists Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar. The duo along with Vijender had brought laurels to India at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Speaking about his foray into pro-boxing, Akhil Kumar said “I am very thrilled to begin this new phase of my boxing career. I will out the same amount of energy and hard work into professional boxing as I did in Amateur boxing. I have been training hard for last 6 months and feel confident of entering the ring as a pro-boxer.
Jitendra Kumar, who will also be debuting as a professional boxer, said “I am eagerly waiting to start this new journey as a pro boxer. I have been training for a couple of months now and will put up a strong fight against my opponent. I am confident of my training sessions and I am sure I will do a wonderful job in my first bout.”
Vijender Singh Meets Sachin Tendulkar to present first ticket
The very first ticket of my fight was presented to @sachin_rt . What a good start for us. Get ready for #BattleGroundAsia, everyone. pic.twitter.com/joYi2HGNME
a Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) 27 June 2017
The first ticket of the fight night was presented to Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar by Vijender Singh at his residence. Sachin expressed his support for the Indian boxer , “It was extremely humble of Vijender to come and give me the first ticket, I hope he continues his winning streak. I would like to wish him all the very best, he is doing an excellent job of India’s flag bearer in the world of pro-boxing.”
The tickets for the event will go live on July 1 on www.bookmyshow.com and will be priced from 1200 INR to 12000 INR.
