The Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi will be jam-packed with Indian boxing fans and some A-listers, who will be supporting Vijender Singh as the boxer is set to defend WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title against Francis Cheka on Saturday. There is great hype surrounding the fight as Vijender will be keen to maintain his unbeaten streak, while former WBF world champion Cheka will use his massive experience to silence the home crowd.
Click here for Vijender Singh vs Francis Cheka live blog
The war of words began a few weeks ago, with Cheka confident of defeating Vijender as he has promised to teach the kid a lesson. Vijender, who does involve in similar talks, has also spoken about the fight, stating he will throw a number of punches to Cheka and beat him to retain his title.
Such trash talking is nothing new in boxing as other boxers in the past have also done the same to Vijender, who has answered them back inside the ring. Vijender, in his previous seven fights, has showcased himself as a dominant boxer inside the ring, defeating all of them with a fine performance. He has won six of his bouts via knockout, and his last bout against Kerry Hope went all the way where he won via unanimous decision.
Vijender's fight with Cheka is going to be a different bout altogether as the boxer not only is experienced, but has all the ingredients to hand Vijender his first defeat. With the number of rounds Cheka has spent inside the boxing ring, the Tanzanian knows how to handle pressure, and counter them as well.
Though Cheka has maintained that he will knockout Vijender, the Tanzanian does not have a huge record of knocking out boxers. He has won 17 of his 42 opponents via knockouts, which is not a great turn around.
Cheka, if he is going for the knockout, will hope to get off to a great start, and take some risks as well, which might come handy for Vijender, who is great in latching onto any opportunity to throw both his left and right first, which are equally powerful. Vijender will hope to use his reach advantage against Cheka as well.
Where to watch live
The live coverage of all the fights including the undercard bouts will start at 7 p.m. IST (1.30 pm GMT). Live Streaming and TV options can be found below.
India: TV: Star Sports 1/HD. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Box Nation . Live Streaming: Watch BoxNation
Undercard fights
Rajesh Kumar VS Mubaraka Seguya
Deepak Tanwar VS Sutriyono Bara Boys
Dharmender Grewal VS Abasi Kyobe
Kuldeep Dhanda VS Egy Rozten
Pardeep Kharera VS Scott Edwards
Major Fight
WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Title Fight
10 Rounds
Vijender Singh (India) VS Francis Cheka (Tanzania)
