I always go in thinking this is my first fight and I have to win: Vijender Singh
The Indian professional boxer will take on Artysh Lopsan on his return to the ring on March 19
Vijender Singh literally has a tall task ahead of him. The Indian professional boxer will take on 6’4 Artysh Lopsan on March 19 on the rooftop deck of the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa to mark his return to the ring after more than a year.
“It’s good to be back,” Vijender told Olympic Channel during an interaction.“I got back to training in January and it took me about six to eight weeks to start feeling good in the ring again. I have been training with Jai Bhagwan for these past few months.
“We did a lot of research for a venue for the comeback bout. UK and USA was closed to us due the pandemic. Even the major cities in India are still coping with the virus. We took the proposal to the owner of Majestic (Casino ship) in Goa and they were keen to host us. Goa is a sports-loving state, very energetic, so I’m looking forward to competing there.”
The Indian boxer will be seen in action for the first time since he defeated Ghana’s former Commonwealth Games champion Charles Adamu in Dubai in November 2019. The win over Adamu also extended his unbeaten run on the professional circuit to 12, including eight knockouts. And the pressure to keep that unbeaten record is mounting with each bout.
“That's true,” Vijender admitted. “But I never go in thinking that my record is 12-0. I always think this is my first fight, and I have to win. The focus is on the game plan and getting the better of my opponent.”
Always a strategic boxer, Vijender had first made a splash during the Beijing Olympics. He became the first Indian to finish on the podium at the Olympics when he won a bronze in the middleweight division. In 2015, Vijender made the switch to professional boxing and again made it work like no Indian before him had.
“In professional boxing you have to maintain fitness for the whole year,” said Vijender. “You can’t say, ‘My fight is not happening so I can take it easy.’ You might get a bout in one month or 15 days and you have to be in shape for it and ready to go.
“The fact is a lot of younger Indian boxers have gone professional. But they are not getting big marquee fights. With my next bout, we are introducing the concept of pay-per-view to Indian audience. Hopefully that will change the face of not just boxing, but combat sports in general.”
Even though pro boxing is still in its nascent stages in the country, India has taken massive strides in amateur boxing since 2008. The country will send a record number of boxers - at least nine (currently five men, four women) - to the Tokyo Games in July 2021.
“I hope they will come back with good results,” said Vijender. “Boxing is managed a very well in the country now.”
The boxer though remained coy on his chances of coming back to the Games. The Rio 2016 Olympics was the first time that professional boxers were allowed to compete in the quadrennial Games.
“If I get a chance, I would love to come back and compete at the Olympics,” the 35-year-old said.
With a week to go before his fight, the Indian boxer is now in the final stretch of training: weight shedding. By Thursday, when the weigh-in takes places he will have to be 76.2 kgs or under. “Right now I am about four-five kgs over the mark,” he said. “In the next few days I’ll drop that weight mainly by sweating out during work-outs and diet control.”
Vijender, who currently holds the WBO Asia Pacific, and WBO Oriental super-middleweight titles, is a lot more experienced than his next opponent. The 26-year-old Lopsan has competed in six professional bouts, with the Russian winning four and registering one defeat and one draw.