Vijender Singh will defend his WBO Asia title against Francis Cheka, the current Intercontinental Champions and Singh’s toughest opponent so far, on 17 December at New Delhi.
This will be the biggest challenge in Vijender Singh’s pro boxing career as Cheka is veteran with an experience of 43 fights, including 37 wins and 17 knockouts. In his 16 year career, Cheka has faced some of the prominent pro boxers of the middleweight category like WBA world champion Fedor Chudinov and WBC international Champion Matthew Mecklin. He has 300 boxing rounds under his belt and Vijender Singh with 27 rounds will be the underdog in the WBO Super Middleweight Asia Pacific title match.
However, Vijender Singh has seen a huge success since his debut in pro boxing in 2015. The Olympic Bronze Medalist boasts a 7 bout undefeated streak and in his last bout he faced Kerry Hope for the vacant WBO Super Middleweight Asia Pacific title and won the 10 round match, claiming his first pro boxing title. Noticeably, since his debut, Vijender Singh has not seen a single defeat, making him one of the best debutants in Pro Boxing.
Francis Cheka on the other hand, is a former World Heavyweight Champion and is famous for trash talking which has further led his opponents to lose control on themselves.
Cheka got the best of Vijender Singh during a promotional event in Delhi where he said that winning a bronze in Olympics is nothing and Vijender Singh’s winning streak was destined to be broken through him.
Here is what Cheka said “Vijender’s Olympic medal is nothing. I am a World Champion and intercontinental champion. On December 17, Vijender will know why I am a world champion. I feel sorry India has picked Vijender to fight me. Vijender looks scared already. India will be ashamed on Saturday”.
He further showed Five fingers to his opponent during the face off which implied that Cheka is confident of taking out Vijender Singh in just five rounds rather than the scheduled ten.
Despite these intense talks being a holler of a marquee bout, Vijender Singh has maintained a calm note and said “I am quite and hold back with words but don’t take me lightly for I will surprise you” and the statement came moments after Cheka shoved the current WBO Super Middleweight Asia Pacific title.
Singh Further added “He thinks I am a beginner in the professional ring, I will just wait for 4 more days and show him what a child’s punch feels like. I have been and will always be the good boy of boxing I only let my punches do the talking. I won this title with so much pride in front of my people, with their support and love and I am not going to let it go that easily”.
It’s just a matter of days when the world will see whether India gets ashamed of Vijender Singh or Cheka gets a beating of lifetime as the former World Champion has lost all bouts away from home.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates. Don’t forget to like and share. Do tell us your views in the comment box below.
14 December 2016
Rohan Jaitly