Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will look to clinch his second title and keep his unbeaten record intact when he takes on undefeated Chinese Zulipikaer Maimaitiali here tomorrow (5).
The 31-year-old former Olympic bronze-medallist will be fighting his ninth professional fight tomorrow 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 and I am excited, I know the whole of India is with me," Vijender said at the weigh-in today.
"I am very confident and hope that the fight will be good and India will win. last night (3) I checked my weight it was 78 and I had to be 76.2, so I did not eat anything. My weight is 76.00 today (4), I will very much focus on diet," he said.
The Indian said his strategy would be responsive to how his opponent maneuvers 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," he said.
The official weigh-in and the face-off for the bout happened this afternoon.
"I am experienced. I don't consider him as an experienced boxer, he is young, but he is a strong kid and we are ready for it.
"I have a game plan which I discussed with my coach, he (the coach) said stay calm, don't be in hurry," Vijender said.
There will be seven other bouts tomorrow, where the Olympian duo of Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar will be making their professional debuts.
John Denham
