WBO vice president Duggan says Vijender has been successful in pro segment and next big thing for the Olympics bronze medallist will be a World title
New Delhi: Vijender Singh's pro boxing debut in India yesterday for the WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title was not just a carefully planned operation by his promoters IOS and Queensberry Promotions, but also a timely move by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) to tap the potentially huge Indian market.
India's Vijender Singh celebrates after beating Alexander Horvath of Hungary during a middleweight bout in Liverpool earlier this year. Pic/Getty Images
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Perfect platform
The Puerto Rico-based professional boxing body has been waiting for quite some time to make its foray into India, and Vijender's bout was just the perfect launch platform, informs John Duggan, vice president of the WBO. "India is a huge market. When a billion people get together to do something, it will definitely be huge and that's the reason we decided to sanction Vijender's fight as we felt the time is right to tap the growing Indian economy," Duggan told mid-day here yesterday.
John Duggan
Of course the abundance of natural boxing talent here is another attractive aspect of the subcontinent nation. "Indian boxers are very good at the amateur level and the next step for them is professional boxing, but unfortunately they haven't had too many avenues before this on the pro circuit, so here we are," added Duggan.
Finally, Duggan said, given Vijender's stellar career this far and promising future scope, this fight and its outcome could put Indian boxing on the global map in the near future.
"Vijender is India's best amateur boxer. And he has grown almost miraculously in the pro segment having won six out of six fights. The next big thing for him would be a world title but for that he has to be in the Top 15 of the world rankings. A win for him on Saturday will put him in that big league (Top 15).
No turning back
"From there, there's no turning back. India could have a world champion sooner rather than later and that would be great news for professional boxing in this part of the world," explained Duggan.
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