A confident Vijender Singh will be looking to defend his WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title in front of his home fans here on Saturday against the former world champion Francis Cheka.
With 43 bouts under his belt, Francis Cheka will be the toughest challenger that Vijender Singh will face in his pro-boxing career till now. He has won 32 of his 43 bouts. Seventeen of those wins have come by knockout. Vijender on the other hand has won all his seven bouts - six of those were knockouts. The only one that wasn't knockout was his last fight which went the entire 10 rounds. At the end of the 10 rounds, Vijender won his maiden title — WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title.
Having made his debut as a 17-year-old in the year 2000, Cheka has over 16 years of experience in professional boxing compared to just six months for Vijender.
Vijender however, enjoys the height advantage over the 5'10" African boxer. At the pre-fight weigh-in on Friday, Vijender was an exact 76 kilograms while Cheka registered 74.7.
The former Olympic medallist will take on Cheka in a 10-round at the Thyagraj Stadium, where he won his maiden title.
Even though he has less experience in the pro-circuit, Vijender has achieved a lot in amateur boxing.
The Haryana lad became the first Indian boxer to clinch an Olympic medal when he took bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the first to win a professional title.
The night will also feature five undercard bouts featuring greenhorns in the pro circuit.
In 67kg weight category, Pardeep Kharera will be up against Scott Edwards, who comes from Australia. Scott has previously fought four bouts and has been victorious in all. In the same weight category Deepak Tanwar will take on Sutriyono Bara Boys from Indonesia.
In 61kg, Kuldeep Dhanda is pitted against Egy Rozten, who hails from Indonesia. Rozten has 19 bouts and has own five bouts with three KO wins. Also, Rajesh Kumar will take on Mubaraka Sseguya from Uganda, who has 11 bouts with 40 rounds under his belt, with a total of 8 wins and 4 KO's. In 95kg category, Dharmender Grewal will take on Abasi Kyobe from Uganda.
live on Star Sports from 7pm.