Vijender Singh to fight for second career title in April

After a successful defence of his WBO Asia Pacific title, Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will be in contention for a second belt when he takes on China's WBO Oriental Super Middleweight champion Zulpikar Maimaitiali on April 1 in Mumbai.

Sources told PTI that the double Asian Title Fight card will also feature former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Akhil Kumar and former Asian Championships bronze-medallist Jitender Kumar. Their opponents, however, are yet to be finalised.

The 31-year-old Vijender, who overwhelmed Tanzania's Francis Cheka in his title defence in December last year, is undefeated in the circuit so far and is currently training in Manchester under the tutelage of his British trainer Lee Beard.

The April 1 clash against Maimaitiali will be his third pro fight in the country and should he win the contest, Vijender would become the holder of two titles as both the boxers' belts would be on the line. Vijender's previous two India bouts have been held in Delhi.

Maimaitiali, who like Vijender, also made his professional debut in 2015, is eight fights old in the arena, having won seven of them. The Chinese No.1 has five Knockout victories under his belt.

He won the WBO Oriental Title last year in July by defeating Thomas Mashali of Tanzania by a Technical Knockout.

Vijender so far has eight wins under his belt with seven of them being Knockout triumphs.

"The fight night will also see other top boxers making their pro boxing debut in Mumbai," sources said.

Vijender's India promoters, IOS Boxing Promotions, are currently working out the modalities of the fight with Maimaitiali's promoters in China.