Battleground Asia: Vijender Singh dubs Chinese southpaw Zulpikar Maimaitiali ‘inexperienced’ ahead of double title fight

The ongoing verbal dues between India's star professional boxer and Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh and his Chinese undefeated Challenger  Zulpikar Maimaitiali don’t seem to end ahead of the much awaited double-title fight on Saturday as the Indian pugilist dubbed his Chinese opponent him as inexperienced.

 "I am experienced....I don't consider him as experienced boxer, he is young, but he is strong kid and we are ready for it. I have a game plan which I discussed with my coach, he (the coach) said stay calm, don't be in hurry," said Vijender, ahead of the fight in Worli here on August 5.

"He (Zulpikar) is young so he (can) make mistake, he is in rush. In the first round, he would like to take over everything but that's the time you should be calm," added the star professional boxer.

Vijender, who is WBO Asia Pacific Middleweight champion, will take on Zulpikar, the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight champion.

Vijender, the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist, has been training in Manchester, England, with his trainer Lee Beard for this bout, the first ticket of which was presented to cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar at the latter's house by the boxer himself.

To a question, Vijender said it won't be his toughest fight yet. "I don't think so....many more to come. I don't think there is any challenge. If he is going to be aggressive, I will react accordingly," the Indian boxer said.

He also referred to the ongoing stand-off between India and China in the Sikkim sector.

"There is a responsibility because it's India-China. Right now the situation is bad, so this kind of responsibility I feel," he added.

Asked how he maintains his composure, Vijender credited it to meditation, which he learned from (yoga guru) Baba Ramdev. He would miss his his son's birthday on August 4, he said.

In the coming fight, the two boxers will put their respective WBO titles at stake. The winner will take home his defended title and his opponent's too.