How Vijender Singh gets title fight within 9 months of his professional debut

READ: Too many belts, too many champions

What is he fighting for?

While he boxes in England, Vijender cannot box for a British title as he isn’t a British National. The title he is likely fight for will be sanctioned by WBO Asia Pacific – an affiliated organisation of the WBO, which is considered one of the four major world championship sanctioning bodies (alongside the WBC, IBF and WBA). The Asia Pacific belt is a regional belt. Similar regional titles exist other regions as well. North America has the NABO Title, Central and South America have the WBO Latino Title, Asia has WBO Asia Pacific, Oriental, and Youth Titles, while Africa is opening its region as WBO Africa, and China Zone is being developed. Europe has the WBO Intercontinental Titles well as the WBO-Europe title. Other major sanctioning bodies too have regional titles. The WBC’s Asian affiliate is the Asian Boxing Council. Neeraj Goyat is currently the ABC welterweight champion, having won the belt in New Delhi in November last year.

Is Vijender getting a title shot too early?

With just three fights under his belt so far, Vijender is undoubtedly receiving a title shot rather soon. However this isn’t entirely without precedent as title fights are often sanctioned rather early in the professional careers of boxers who have had exceptional amateur careers. Double Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko fought for and won the WBO International featherweight title in his professional debut. Cuban double Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux also won the vacant WBA interim super bantamweight title in just his seventh professional bout. “With Vijinder we have observed his stellar amateur career and his boxing skills. Normally a regional boxing champion wouldn’t be considered until he had 10 of 15 professional fights. But because of his maturity he will be eligible for consideration for a regional contest like Lomachenko or Rigondeaux,” said John Duggan of Vijender who has an estimated 360 amateur bouts under his belt. Vijender’s promoter Francis Warren had initially said he was hoping for the boxer to fight for his first title fight in September this year. However, the plan was changed. “Vijender’s development surprised me. I thought he might have needed 8 fights hopefully 6-0. He has excited me.”

How does the title bout help Vijender?

By competing for and hopefully winning the Asia Pacific title, Vijender will be able to enter the WBO boxer rankings. This will permit him to increase his chances of competing for other belts sanctioned by the WBO including the Intercontinental and European belts. “This will be a big stepping stone for Vijender for at least his next four or five fights. If he wins here it could help him competing for the Intercontinental and Commonwealth titles,” says Neerav Tomar.

Is this a done deal?

While Vijender’s bout is all but certain, Tomar says the bout is still a conditional, with the WBO keeping a close eye on on Vijender’s performance in his subsequent bouts. “The WBO will give its go ahead only after March 12,” says Tomar. That day would mark Vijender’s fourth professional bout. If Vijender stumbles to a loss or puts in an unimpressive performance, the title bout might perhaps be in jeopardy.

What’s there for his promoters?

On the face of it, Vijender’s promoters will have to pay a sanctioning fee – which will be 10 per cent of the prize money purse — to the WBO. However, Queensberry Promotions is likely to make a fair amount on Vijender’s Indian debut. They expect to sell at least 15,000 seats at the IG Stadium and get much more from TV rights deal. A boxer with a title belt will also be a more promotable name even back in the UK. “I didn’t want to rush him at all. We know what we are doing in his developmental career. Id love to keep him there. He is getting big ticket numbers from UK sports fans as a whole. He is going to be in demand,” said Warren. Vijender’s bout is also expected to provide a launch platform for the Indian professional scene. “What better way to get people excited about the first high profile professional boxing fight in India than a title fight,” says Warren.

Who will Vijender fight?

This depends on which WBO Asia Pacific belt Vijender will be fighting for. “It’s not just about the belt,” says Francis Warren. “Its about choosing the right fight. Its got to be the correct fight. We will see which is the opponent who will be right for Vijender at this stage of his career. It has to be someone at or only slightly higher than his level,” said Warren. The Super Middleweight (76.20kg) title is currently held by Australian Rohan Murdock who has an impressive 18-1 record. The Middleweight title (72.6kg) is currently vacant which means that this is likely the belt Vijender will compete for. The fighter ranked number one by the WBO in the middleweight division is experienced Australian Kerry Hope who has a 23-7 record. However Vijender’s promoter Neerav Tomar says that Vijender will likely face either ‘a Korean or a Chinese’. How this plays out is uncertain because there is no Chinese or Korean boxer in the top ten of either the WBO’s middleweight or super middleweight rankings. Promoter Warren says that depending how Vijender performs he may even compete against the number eight or nine ranked boxer in the WBO Asia Pacific region.

What has he been doing so far?

While fans may be looking forward to his first title bout, it must be kept in mind that Vijender is still relatively early in his professional boxing career. He will only be fighting for the fourth time in March and will only compete a total of six times in all before his India debut. However, Vijender has scarcely been tested in his contests so far with only his first fight going past the first round. Vijender’s March fight will be his second six round contest and his subsequent two fights will be eight rounders. His tentative title bout will have to be either a 10 or 12 round contest.