Vijender confident ahead of sixth pro fight

Bolton, May 12: Indian boxing sensation Vijender Singh on Thursday hit the weight at the weigh-in ahead of Friday night’s showdown with Andrzej Soldra of Poland at the Macron Stadium here.

The red-hot super middleweight ace, who took bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games, has made an explosive start to his professiol career by blowing away his first five opponents. The Harya lad has won all his five fights by technical knockouts in only 14 rounds of action.

The 30-year-old from Bhiwani is due for a tiol homecoming event where he will fight for the World Boxing Association (WBO) Asia title in New Delhi and asserted that there is no way that Soldra will prevent that from happening. “This fight will be my first eight rounder so I am currently working on endurance and building my strength so that if the fight goes long then I have the capability to compete against my opponent. My training is becoming tough day by day and my immediate focus is to win this fight and make it 6-0 of my pro career before playing in the homecoming title fight,” Vijender said in a statement.

“Due to increase in the number of rounds, my coaches have worked hard on my fitness and stami,” he added.

Soldra comes into the fight against Vijender with a record of 12 wins with five knockouts from 16 fights.

The 30-year-old has the edge in experience over Vijender with 81 rounds under his belt and has no fear fighting his first fight abroad. Soldra also has a brilliant record in amateur boxing with 82 wins from 98 fights.

Soldra has only been stopped thrice in a professiol career spanning over five years and will be looking to spoil Vijender’s party when he makes his first appearance on British soil. Vijender knows that it is crucial that he wins at the Macron Stadium before setting his eyes on a huge Indian homecoming.

The Indian claimed his fifth professiol win at the Copper Box Are in London last month with a blistering fifth round stoppage of Frenchman Matiouze Royer. The Indian knockout merchant ended the contest in the fifth round with a punishing stoppage win over Royer and will be looking to claim another win at the Macron Stadium.

“I know this fight is very crucial for me and I need to continue my unbeaten record and it’s important that I put on a commanding performance against Soldra to keep on course for my title shot and my homecoming. I am really excited to finish off my sixth fight on a winning note and then compete for title in front of my home crowd,” he said. IANS