“Boxing is ttainted. There are too many belts, too many champions,” undefeated and looking to end his career by cashing in another massive purse split, Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr had a point. But when Vijender Singh takes on his Chinese opponent in August, he’ll be itching to place another belt over his wide torso.
Singh is set to fight Chinese No.1 Zulpikar Maimaitiali on August 5th at the NSCI stadium in Mumbai. The tickets for “Battleground Asia” will be priced from Rs.1200 to Rs 12,000. Fans can purchase the tickets from Book My Show from 1st July onwards.
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The first ticket was presented to Sachin Tendulkar by Vijender himself at his residence. “It was extremely humble of Vijender to come and give me the first ticket. I hope he continues the winning streak. He is doing an excellent job as India’s flag bearer in the world of pro-boxing”, said Tendulkar.
Billed as the fight which will decide who is the “King of Asia”, current holder of the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title, Vijender will take on Maimaitiali, who is the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight Champion.
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Both boxers made their professional boxing debut in 2015 and will enter the ring realising that winner takes all. This one has all the makings of a nail-biter. If Vijender wins, he’d not only retain his belt but also take away the one Zulpikar currently owns, making this a high-stake battle, sanctioned by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO).
Unlike other boxers his age, Zulpikar, who is a southpaw and has nine bouts under his belt compared to Singh’s eight, is extremely calm but cautious in his approach – a double edge sword in a boxing ring.
The youngster will be aware that Singh has had a couple of successful and breezy stints against opponents who were initially billed as complicated southpaw fighters. Vijender eased past an overzealous Slovak, Alexander Horvath and destroyed Australian, Kerry Hope, winning all ten rounds.
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