Sept. 1: While entertainment could be a distraction to many sportsperson, the poster boy of Indian boxing, Vijender Singh, is all geared up for the bilateral ‘Fight Night-Lagaan Cup’ between top Indian and English pugilists.
The event will be held in Hyderabad on September 12 and in Pune on September 14 and Vijender feels that it is the event that will give him the needed boost before the Commonwealth Games in the capital next month. Four Indian boxers will face their British counterparts Martin Stead, Liam Cameron and Hosea Burton in the inaugural edition of the ‘Lagaan Cup’, which will be an annual affair. The Indians are Vijender, Dinesh Kumar, Dilbagh Singh and Diwakar Prasad.
The event will span 90 minutes with four exhibition matches between amateur boxers with some entertainment acts. Fights will follow international amateur boxing rules and will be approved by International Boxing Federation (IBF). Winner of each bout gets $1500 and the loser will take home $1000.
Talking about the event, Vijender said that he had met the English boxers in the ring earlier and having beaten them, was confident that this time too, he could repeat the results. Singh was also all praise for junior boxers Suranjoy Singh and Amandeep.