On Wednesday, Vijender Singh will mark his return to professional boxing with an appearance in ‘The Jungle Rumble’ against Ghana’s Eliasu Sulley at Raipur, Chattisgarh. After turning professional in 2015, Vijender had a winning streak that had only been broken in his previous bout in Goa. He was defeated by his Russian opponent Artysh Lopsan through technical knockout in the fifth round of their eight-round fight.

In Raipur, he will go up against Sulley, the reigning national West Africa Boxing Union Champion, who has eight previous knockouts to his name and is looking to carve Vijender Singh’s name into his unbeaten record book in the upcoming fight. Sulley will present a unique challenge for the Indian as he is competing after 19 months – the longest break between bouts for Vijender.

Interview: Vijender Singh on his return to Pro Boxing – ‘I’m just looking to rock and roll again’

Sparks flew between him and and Ghanian ‘knockout’ Sulley, during the official face-off between the two. Vijender Singh was confident with his weight at 78kg while Eliasu Sulley weighs 76kg.

Ahead of the encounter, his opponent Eliasu Sulley said: “I’ve watched his previous bouts and know what he does best but I’m not worried because knockout no.9 has Vijender Singh’s name written all over it. His stature does not bother me, I know the crowd will be behind him at the fight, but I know how to silence them all.”

Vijender Singh, who has been training in Manchester for almost over a year now was not bothered by these comments at all and is just working on the final touches of his preparations. He replied saying, “He is forgetting that I have previously dealt with 12 of such boxers in a row who had almost the same things to say to me but we all know how those fights turned out. This is just a stepping stone into a new era in my professional boxing career.”

The other Indian boxers who would be fighting the undercard fights are also confident to take on their opponents.

The weights were as follows: 

1. Amey Nitin – 57.1 kgs
 Weight Category- Featherweight


2. Asad Asif Khan 57.1kgs
 Weight Category- Featherweight


3. Ashish Sharma 60.4kgs
 Weight category – Lightweight


4. Karthik Sathish Kumar 61.2kgs
 Weight category – Lightweight


5. Saikhom Rebaldo – 59.1kgs
 Weight category – Lightweight


6. Gurpreet Singh – 61.2kgs
 Weight category – Lightweight

7. Sachin Nautiyal – 66.1kgs
 Weight category. - Welterweight


8. Faizan Anwar – 66.6kgs
 Weight category – Welterweight


9. Eliasu Sulley – The African Lion – 75.2kgs
 Weight category – Super middle weight


10. Vijender Singh - The Indian Tiger 76.2kgs
 Weight category – Super middle weight

‘Jungle in The Rumble’ will be held at the Balbir Juneja Stadium in Raipur on the August 17, 2022. The fight will also be streamed live on Voot and Sports 18 Khel.