Indian boxer Vijender Singh will be back in action during his sixth professional bout in the country when he takes to the ring in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ event in Raipur in August.
The 36-year-old, who is the first Indian to bag an Olympic medal in boxing with a bronze in 2008, has a record of 12-1 with eight knockouts after turning professional in 2015. His unbeaten streak of 12 was unfortunately broken during his last bout in Goa.
One of the biggest names in Indian boxing history is undoubtedly Vijender Singh. The former Olympic bronze medallist had recently turned professional in 2015. Since then, he has been on fire, winning 12 matches in a row. He even won the WBO Asia Pacific super-middleweight and WBO Oriental super-middleweight titles. However, he lost his first professional bout against Russian Artysh Lopsan in Goa on 19th March 2021. Since then, he has been missing in action. Vijender Singh thought of this as an exciting opportunity to promote boxing in Chattisgarh.
“It’s a great opportunity to introduce the sport to the people of the state and hopefully, this can inspire a new generation of boxers,” Vijender Singh said in a statement. “I am currently training in Manchester and look forward to starting my unbeaten streak again this August,” he added.
The 36-year-old, who is the first Indian to bag an Olympic medal in boxing with a bronze in 2008, has a record of 12-1 with eight knockouts after turning professional in 2015. In fact, he is the only male Indian boxer to have won a medal at the quadrennial event to date.
This will be the first professional boxing event in Raipur, in association with the state government of Chhattisgarh.
Excited to witness the first professional boxing in the state, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said: “Promoting sports for the current and next generation is extremely important for the state of Chhattisgarh. “Having someone of the stature of Vijender Singh who has made the country proud at the Olympics will inspire young athletes throughout the state,” Baghel said.
The event, which will also have other undercard bouts besides the pro event of Vijender, will be held at Balbir Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium.
He also won bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games and silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, all in the middleweight division.
In June 2015, Vijender Singh turned professional and signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment. This ruled him out of the 2016 Olympics, which would have been his fourth.
