Vijender Singh to make professional boxing debut in September

Vijender Singh had turned pro recently

New Delhi, July 14 (IANS): India's Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh will make his debut in professional boxing in September this year in England.

Vijender signed a multi-year promotional agreement with promoters Queensberry Promotions that will see the talented middleweight fight a minimum of six times in the first year.

The 29-year-old boxer will start his training from July 27 in Manchester under globally acclaimed champion trainer Lee Beard.

"Nothing is easy in life but I have lived my life by taking new challenges every day. I have played nearly 200 bouts in amateur boxing and now I have an ambition that our country should be known in professional boxing, the sport which is dominated by west (Europe and America)," Vijender said in a release on Tuesday about his training.

Vijender's promoters IOS and Queensberry are confident of the pugilist's success in professional boxing.

"I think I have made the right decision of joining Pro at the right time. I am ready for this challenge and have already started working on my fitness. I am really excited to start my training in Manchester and would request everyone in the country to support me to put our flag on the world map in professional boxing," the 29-year-old said.

Vijender won silver at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 2006 Asian Games, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 World Amateur Championships and 2010 Commonwealth Games; gold at the 2010 Asian Games and was rated the world's number one middleweight in 2009.

Beard mentioned that the boxer will have to start with a lot of technical work at the initial stage.

"It's going to be a lot of hard physical work and a lot of mind strength building. He's a very strong kid and I think he will adapt to the new pro code. I believe once he gets through the first three months he'll be well on his way," Beard said.