Vijender Singh's Mumbai duel with Zulpikar Maimaitiali

Maimaitiali is unlikely to pose serious problems for Vijender

Chances are that Vijender Singh’s wife has never heard of Mae Fox. On June 13, 1935, Fox saw her husband, James J Braddock, bring America to its feet at a time when the Great Depression had forced it on its knees. Braddock did so in a rousingly barbaric world heavyweight title fight against Max Baer. 

But Fox didn’t actually “see” Braddock; tales of his unforeseen valiance were only tricking in through the radio. She couldn’t get herself to go to Madison Square Garden that evening in the torrid anticipation that her husband was going to get mercilessly pummelled by a man whose punches had felled two fighters who later died in hospital.

Zulpikar Maimaitiali is obviously no Baer. But Archana Singh, much like Fox, has already made up her mind: seeing her husband getting hit is not something she can endure. To her relief, it seems unlikely that there would be many punches coming in Singh’s direction, anyway. Maimaitiali has never fought anyone with the experience of Singh, and when the two meet for the WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental super middleweight titles in Mumbai tonight, the 23-year-old from China will be confronted with a completely different brand of pugilistic prowess. 

It has been a difficult few months for Singh, who parted ways with Queensbury Promotions in May after its “failure to deliver on contract promises”, and hasn’t fought since stopping Tanzanian Francis Cheka in a ludicrously lopsided bout in December. Eight months without a fight is a long time for a boxer who is still less than 10 fights old in the prize-fighting game. The process of setting up fights rarely moves at a frenetic pace in the professional ranks, but Singh has grown somewhat frustrated at the lack of action in the past few months. “It hasn’t been easy staying away for so long. But then this is a part of our sport,” he concedes.

Maimaitiali, unbeaten in his nine fights so far, is a fairly unknown quantity for Singh. Photo: Reuters

The time away from the ring has been well spent. Singh is no longer the slightly flabby kid of the last decade; he is a strapping man with enormous muscles who can put his younger self to shame in the boxing ring any day of the week. Unlike during his amateur days, swimming and running for long durations have now become indispensable parts of his fitness regime. “Training for a pro fight is very different from preparing for one in the amateur circuit,” says John Joyce, Singh’s trainer and the man responsible for this astounding turnaround. “You need to really push yourself and he’s done that perfectly in the past year.” Conditioning, after all, trumps ability in professional fights, which often take the shape of gruesome, laborious slugfests where staying up on your feet towards the end becomes a serious — and deciding — challenge. 

As for Maimaitiali, Singh feels that his inexperience will tell. “He hasn’t fought a lot of quality guys before. So he will definitely find the going tough,” he says, his voice indicating he is yet to fully embrace the pomposity that is central to the specious art of trash talk. Beneath the unruffled exterior, there exists a minute sense of caution. And understandably so.

Vijender Singh in a duel. Photo: Reuters

Maimaitiali, unbeaten in his nine fights so far, is a fairly unknown quantity for Singh. His team — chief trainer Lee Beard and Joyce — claims to have brushed up on its knowledge of Maimaitiali, but a young, undaunted fighter like him can so easily surprise. More worryingly, the Chinese is a southpaw, meaning that Singh’s frame will be exposed from a variety of different angles and his right cross will have a longer distance to travel. And, the awkward challenge of facing a southpaw can paralyse your movement, with your feet getting tangled up. 

The last southpaw Singh faced was Kerry Hope in July last year, and the plucky Australian pushed the Indian all the way — Singh winning only via unanimous decision after 10 rounds. The only other time he has encountered a southpaw was against Alexander Horvath in his fourth fight, flooring the Hungarian in the third round on that occasion. 

Singh, however, has no intention of making this fight go the Hope way; he’s keen on sending Maimaitiali to the changing rooms rather quickly. “I’ll look for a knockout. I’ll try to put him in his place as soon as I can,” says the 31-year-old. 

Vijender Singh's team — Lee Beard and John Joyce — claims to have brushed up on its knowledge of Maimaitiali, but a young, undaunted fighter like him can so easily surprise. Photo: Reuters

Even if he disposes of Maimaitiali with consummate ease, Singh’s professional career is yet to hit the seraphic heights it initially promised. Staying undefeated so far is no doubt a splendid achievement, but the opposition has not always been the most testing. Joyce expects that to change very soon. “Another three to four fights, and he can get a shot at a world title,” he feels. Any temptation to pass a judgement on Singh, therefore, must be withheld till he faces up to a genuinely world-class opponent. 

Perhaps that’s the reason why Singh’s tetchy exchanges with Amir Khan in recent weeks have made for intriguing assessment. Khan, a former WBC Silver welterweight champion, earlier this year said that Singh should be fighting tougher opponents to ensure he’s not labelled a “fraud”. Singh counters that by saying that he is ready to fight the Brit himself. “Bring it on. I’m ready for anyone. You should ask him why he’s not willing to fight me,” he says. In a 2015 interview with Business Standard, Khan stated that a fight with Singh would be “an interesting proposition”. 

Khan’s own career, in fact, has been in a bit of a freefall. Ever since getting clobbered by Canelo Álvarez in May last year, Khan has spent most of his time opening boxing gymnasiums and putting one of his houses on the market amid a bitter family feud. Talks of a possible showdown with Manny Pacquiao also broke down earlier this year. But even then, Khan — unlikely to happen, anyway — would be a stupendous step up in class that Singh doesn’t quite seem ready for yet. For now, with Khan only lurking in the background, Singh must have his eyes solely set on Maimaitiali. 

Interestingly, in New York 82 years ago, Braddock started as the huge underdog against the more dominant Baer. Courage can help you pull off wondrous things in sport. Even though she won’t be attending the fight, or watching it on television, Singh’s wife must pass on a message to him: complacency can sometimes spell trouble for the more fancied man.

The fight will be aired live tonight on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3, 7 pm onwards