CHENNAI: After a prolonged wait, Vijender Singh’s US debut is here. In a little under 24 hours, the undefeated pro boxer will take on American Mike Snider at the Prudential Centre in New Jersey. The 33-year-old, who was scheduled to take to the ring for the first time in US in April, was injured and his fight was postponed.
But the 2008 Olympic bronze-medallist, who is the reigning WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific super-middleweight champion, is raring to go after recovering from a left eye injury. “I am happy to be here,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great show.
I want to fight two more times this year, keep busy and work towards a world title opportunity.” Vijender, who holds a good record at this level (10-0, with seven knockouts), also touched upon the large Indian diaspora in the area. “There are a lot of Indian people in this area, and I know they will come to support me. It’s been a long time out of the ring for me, and I am ready,” he said.
Snider (13-5 with eight knockouts), whose fight with Vijender on the undercard of the Shakur Stevenson vs Franklin Manzanilla, for his part said his camp have seen a few of his opponent’s fights and they have a strategy. “My trainers looked at Vijender and watched several of his fights. They told me what he does well and what we can do to exploit his weaknesses.” Live on Sony Ten 1 @ 4:30 am (Sunday)