Ahead of hard punches come the verbal volleys

Sabi Hussian

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 5

Nearly five months after becoming the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight champion, Vijender Singh will soon be back in India to defend his title. Singh, who beat Australia’s Kerry Hope in July to clinch his maiden Asia Pacific title, will take on intercontinental champion Francis Cheka of Tanzania at the Thayagraj Sports Complex on December 17.

Cheka will be Singh’s most experienced opponent to date, with 43 fights (32 wins, including 17 knockouts) and 300 rounds under his belt in a career spanning over 16 years. 

Singh, who turned professional last year, has fought seven bouts with 27 rounds and is undefeated yet. 

Singh feels the Tanzanian is “all show and no substance”. “He is saying that he will teach me a boxing lesson and after the fight I will never think of professional boxing again. He looks like all talk and no action. I don’t want to engage in a verbal duel with him. My punches would do the talking inside the ring. I am confident of neutralising his challenge,” Singh told The Tribune from Manchester.

“My trainer (Lee Beard) has shown me his videos on Youtube. We have a plan for him. I have been training very specifically for this fight. I have observed that he is too defensive, and I’ll look to exploit this weakness,” he added.

Singh will be returning to the ring after a gap of five months. During this period, Singh focused on increasing his speed, strength and stamina to last 10 rounds.

“This gap was very important to fine-tune my game for 10 and 12-round fights. Beard has increased the intensity of my sparring sessions and the hours I have been putting in the gym. This break also helped me in rectifying some errors in my game. With less than two weeks left for the fight, we are focusing on weight control,” said Singh, who will be landing in India on December 12.