India's pro-boxing sensation Vijender Singh is not too bothered about getting a knockout victory, saying winning a bout is more important and not too concerned about the manner in which he achieves it.
The 31-year-old is undefeated in the pro-circuit, winning seven of his eight fights via knockouts. The only fight which he did not win by knockout was against the Australian Kerry Hope. Vijender won the bout by a unanimous decision after it went down to 10 rounds.
Kerry was a left-hander and come August 5th, Vijender's next opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali from China will also be a southpaw. But, the Indian is not concerned on failing to get a knockout victory against Kerry nor is he looking for one now. "Winning matters for me, I don't care if it's a knockout or a technical knockout. Winning is more important part of the fight. If I get a chance to knockout or if it goes to 10 rounds I am okay with that. I don't worry about that," the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Champion told The Pioneer.
Vijender, who is currently training in Manchester, England, said he will return to India a week before the fight. He also went into detail about the changes he has to make when preparing for a left-handed opponent.
"We have to change the stance, we have to change a little bit of technique and we will make our game plan according to our opponent because my coach will watch the videos in YouTube and he will tell me about what things I have to take care of. So we work on that," he explained.
Pro-boxing fights are known for its aggressive pre-match comments from both the players. Remarks which are often meant to get the fans excited and at the same time are meant to instill a little bit of fear in the opponent.
However, Vijender is neither bothered about making any such comments on his counterpart nor he is least worried about what is opponent may have to say.
"It's a sport and should be only sport. Don't need to input any kind of other things," he said.
Singh also made it clear that he won't let any of those public comments get to his head.
"I don't bother about them because I don't read about them. I just stay calm and do my things. I don't bother about these kinds of words," he added.
Despite enjoying a dream time so far in the pro-circuit, Vijender said he won't be spend much time thinking when he will be fighting for a world title. He just wants to remain calm and pick the right opponent for now.
"My coach says me to choose the right fighter at right time and don't be in a hurry. So I wait and keep calm," he elaborated.
On August 5, Vijender will fight for the first time in Mumbai. He will face the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight champion Zulpikar in a double title fight in a winner-takes-all clash.
On his maiden fight in Mumbai, the 2008 Olympic bronze medal winner Vijender said, "Very excited about the fight in Mumbai because that's what we promised when we came to India that we will promote pro-boxing all over India and that's what we are doing now. This will be our third match in India (Previous 2 were in Delhi)."
Vijender, who is expecting several Bollywood stars to grace the fight night, feels the people in Mumbai are very excited about sports.
He also added that in future they will target other cities in the country too.