MUMBAI: If Vijender Singh’s professional journey in 2015 began on a controversial note, his career as a pro seems to have taken him further away from amateur boxing in India. It’s an important year for the sport in India, with the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games scheduled, but Vijender didn’t seem too cued in.“Yes, yes. They are doing good right now,” he started during a sports awards ceremony in Mumbai. “I don’t know what they are doing, but they are doing good. They don’t call me or tell me what’s happening so I don’t know. They didn’t write to me anyway, so who cares? I am ok with my own thing.”
The only male boxer with an Olympic medal — bronze at Beijing Games — Vijender turned pro in 2015. He has won all of the 10 bouts he has been in so far, seven of them with a knockout. The 32-year-old won the double title bout against China’s Zulpikar Maimaitiali to retain WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title and also won the WBO Oriental super middleweight title.
The 23-year-old brought with him experience which he gleaned from nine professional bouts. That was along with not a huge amount of amateur experience to go. But he was undefeated before going up against Vijender. “I have got two (belts) now, I will be going for a third one,” said Vijender.“We are planning for April-May bout, but we haven’t decided anything right now. Meeting is still in process. I am going for the Commonwealth title this season. So it will take time. It’s won’t be easy, I can’t just show up and expect to win.
“Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will go for the world title. My world ranking is 6 or 7, so I can challenge even the No 1. But I need one more fight before the world title.”Even as Vijender is keen to move up the ladder in the professional circuit, he wants to do it at his own pace.“I am the boss now, so I can do anything,” said the boxer, who is based in UK. “In amateurs, we have to schedule according to the world body’s calendar. In pro, there’s no schedule.”sports@newindianexpress.com