After seven straight wins under his belt, which includes six knockouts, Indian boxer Vijender Singh faces a stern test when he defends his WBO Super Middleweight Asia Pacific title against former world champion Francis Cheka on December 17.
Cheka, 34, has fought 43 times and adjudged the winner in 32 of them with 17 knockouts. The veteran Tanzanian has also fought against some of the top super-middleweight pugilists such as Fedor Chidinov and WBC international champion Matthew Mecklin.
Cheka is a former WBF world champion and the reigning Intercontinental Super Middleweight title holder. Singh punched his way through to his first title after defeating Australian Kerry Hope in the Thyagaraj Stadium in Delhi, the stage where his bout with Cheka is also set.
Singh acknowledged that facing Cheka throws the possibility of facing the toughest battle of his fledgling Pro Boxing career, but backed the home fans to galvanise him to another win, ”Cheka is a highly experienced boxer, he has many bouts under his belt, but none of this demotivates me. I am training harder to match up to his level and hoping for another win.
“Once again my fight will be at home, just like last time the support that I got from the crowd was overwhelming and I am sure there will be more people who will come out to support me. I am confident of my win; I feel my stance is becoming better with every training session that I am undergoing,” Vijender Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.
Cheka, meanwhile, was in a bullish mood, stating: “He [Singh] won’t have a reply for anything I throw at him.” Cheka was also certain that he would knock out India’s Olympic medal winning boxer. “I am ready to give this kid a lesson of boxing…I will come to India. I have heard a lot about this Indian boxer and there’s a lot of hype around him, I just can’t wait to be the one to put him in his place.”
“I know he trains in Manchester, UK, but it will be a great fun to beat an Indian lad in his own country and take away his title. If you see my record, I have a total of 17 knockouts, I have played way more rounds than he has, I am sure I will be able to knock him out in the first round itself,” Cheka said.
Singh, meanwhile, has been sweating it out ahead of this contest and his trainer, Lee Beard, stated that fans will see a “better Vijender” and that the 31-year-old will defend his title in style. “We have been working on Vijender’s strength and power in the gym and he is punching a lot harder. I can already see the benefits of the high intensity training sessions we have been putting in and everyone will see an even better Vijender on December 17th,” Beard said.