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Date: Saturday, 17 December 2016
Time: 7 pm onwards
TV Coverage: Star Sports 1/HD
Live Streaming: Hotstar
Preview
Vijender Singh, the Indian boxing star, will be up against the most experienced and proficient opponent of his new-found professional career when he defends his WBO Super Middleweight Asia-Pacific title against the current WBF Super Middleweight Champion Francis Cheka.
Cheka, who refers to himself as the Tanzanian Lion, is a veteran in the game of Boxing with 43 fights with 32 wins. The 34-year old Tanzanian has tested himself against several super-middleweight talents including WBA world champion, Russia’s Fedor Chudinov and WBC International Champion Matthew Mecklin from UK.
In the 16 years of his professional boxing career, Cheka has managed a total of 300 rounds under his belt compared to Vijender Singh’s 27 and is confident of a positive result in India.
Before holding the Intercontinental Super Middleweight Championship title, which he won earlier this year in February against Serbian Geard Ajetovic, Cheka was also formerly a WBF world champion.
Vijender, meanwhile, who is rather new to the professional boxing industry, has been undefeated in his seven-match career so far. Interestingly, six out of those seven bouts have been straight knockouts.
Despite having a bad record away from home, Francis Cheka, a household name in Tanzania according to his manager, will provide a tough challenge for the man from Haryana and perhaps would be his toughest opponent in a pro-boxing match yet.
Francis Cheka will be, going by record, Vijender Singh’s most experienced as well as the most successful opponent to-date. The visitor will surely prove to be a stern test for the popular Indian boxer.
Vijender will be defending his title for the first time, a title that he won by defeating Australian Kerry Hope in July earlier this year. When asked about whether he is feeling the pressure going into the match, Vijender said:
“No, no, there is no pressure. All India is with me. In less than 24 hours— the night will decided who the best is. I am just waiting for that moment when I come face to face with him (Cheka) in the ring.”
On fighting his opponent Cheka, he said:
“Cheka is a highly experienced boxer, he has many bouts under his belt, but none of this demotivates me. I am training harder to match up to his level and hoping for another win.”
He further went on to add:
"Once again my fight will be at home, just like last time the support that I got from the crowd was overwhelming and I am sure there will be more people who will come out to support me.
I am confident of my win; I feel my stance is becoming better with every training session that I am undergoing.”
When it was Cheka’s turn to answer questions, he was more unforgiving, saying:
"I am ready to give this kid a lesson of boxing…I will come to India. I have heard a lot about this Indian boxer and there's a lot of hype around him, I just can't wait to be the one to put him in his place."
Cheka then went on to add:
"I know he trains in Manchester, UK, but it will be a great fun to beat Indian lad in his own country and take away his title.
If you see my record, I have a total of 17 knockouts, I have played way more rounds than he has, I am sure I will be able to knock him out in the first round itself.”
Vijender, who has been training in Manchester for the fight, also had his trainer, Lee Beard. When asked about the Haryana lad’s training regime and fitness, Beard said:
“We have been working on Vijender's strength and power in the gym and he is punching a lot harder.
I can already see the benefits of the high intensity training sessions we have been putting him and everyone will see an even better Vijender on December 17th.”
The former boxer also added that in the last week before the match, Vijender also managed to lose 8 pounds, just for the match.
Here’s a video of the press conference that featured the two Boxers:
With increasing anticipation, both Vijender Singh and Francis Cheka will be looking to focus on the match in order to be the men of their words. The fight will be aired in India on Star Sports, at 7 PM on Saturday, December 17th, 2016.
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