Vijender Singh pounds on the heavy bag under the vigilant eyes and guidance of Freddie Roach at the legendary trainer’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. This has been a snapshot of the daily scene at the Vine Street gym over the past two weeks. The undefeated Indian super middleweight has been honing his skills in two-a-day morning and evening training sessions in preparation for his U.S. boxing debut April 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
There, Singh (10-0, 7 KOs) will face Calvin Metcalf (9-1-1, 2 KOs) on the undercard of the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Anthony Crolla fight, streaming live on ESPN+.
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At a ripe 33, Singh easily could have chosen to wind down his career in India, having already won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics to become the first Indian boxer to ever win an Olympic medal, and being the reigning WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental super middleweight titleholder, competing in his homeland and the U.K. Instead, the Haryana, India product is dreaming even bigger, as in conquering the U.S. and becoming India’s first professional world boxing champion.
"It’s my dream to fight in USA,” Singh tells Sporting News. "Finally, my dream comes true to fight in USA. That’s going to be a milestone for me and for my people. That’s my dream too — to fight for a world title, of course. If I get that opportunity in like two to three fights … we'll be ready for that.”
Singh has hit the ground running toward accomplishing both feats, having signed with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank in November before tabbing Roach as his head trainer last week.
The signing is considered a shrewd coup for Arum, who sees the potential for Singh to help Top Rank seep boxing into one of the largest relatively untapped territories in the world — India, which counts a population of 1.3 billion.
"Vijender represents the most populous country in the world,” Arum said in a recent Top Rank press release statement. "We believe that with Freddie in his corner, Vijender will become a major star and open up the great country of India to boxing."
Plus, Vijender should be easy to market, touting clean-cut, handsome features straight out of a Bollywood movie. That’s to be taken literally, as Singh starred in the 2014 Bollywood drama/thriller "Fugly" and has done everything from appearing on the "Nach Baliye" dance reality show (think Indian equivalent to “Dancing with the Stars”) to judging a Miss India beauty pageant and gracing magazine covers shirtless as part of his full throttle to Indian superstardom.
"Before the Olympics, nobody knew me. When I went back, people loved me," Singh recollects about his return home from Beijing. “I don’t know how many people came to see me at the airport."
As quickly as his star rose, it nearly plunged. Singh's name was brought up during a 2013 drug seizure in which Punjabi police recovered a massive amount of heroin, according to reports. As part of the seizure, Singh was accused of using heroin multiple times — something that cast a shady spotlight onto the boxer, especially considering he is a longtime, high-ranking Haryana police officer to this day. Singh vehemently denied the accusations and was fully exonerated two months later, as the National Anti-Doping Agency administered a test, with results coming back negative, proving Singh was clean.
Looking back, Singh credits the trying time as an eye-opening experience he needed for his personal growth.
"That’s a good thing that happened to me because that time I realized who’s with me and who’s my fake friend," he says. "Because of that, it taught me so many good things. I always thank God that happened to me and that thing made me mature. It made me more responsible and gave me a clear picture. It was a new thing in my life because I didn’t know who’s my real friends, who’s not. But that thing happened and then everything was cleared. That controversy happened to me, but I thank God that I’m mature. I can handle anything now.”
His career didn't miss a beat. Singh turned pro in October 2015 and went on to win the WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight championship, his first regional title, less than a year later.
In August 2017, his unanimous decision over China’s Zulpikar Maimaitiali had the hard hitter also adding the WBO Oriental title. International icon and Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was among those in attendance for that fight at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Mumbai, with Singh commemorating the moment he was congratulated by the global sensation.
With that kind of fanfare, marketing Singh in the U.S. should be an attainable task for Arum and Top Rank. Plus, his boxing skills aren’t anything at which to whiff.
"I believe Vijender has the talent and the dedication to become a world champion," Roach said in a recent Top Rank press release statement. "He has a great amateur background, a style that will give any super middleweight in the world problems, and power in both hands."
And that's not just hot bluster from Roach to make a splash for his newest charge. There’s actual merit in his comments. Singh defeated former two-division world champion Badou Jack during his run in the 2008 Olympics and edged current middleweight contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the 2009 World Championships in Milan before ever going pro. His last fight, a unanimous decision win in December 2017, came against Ernest Amuzu, a Ghanaian fighter with 21 of his 23 wins registered by knockout at the time.
Under Roach’s guidance, Singh believes he can push his career to greater heights, even at 33.
"I feel like 23, I don’t know,” Singh says with a hearty laugh. “We’re just starting (training together), but it’s boxing. We’re still learning because there’s no limit of learning. Every day is a new day, and every day we learn something new.”
While training with Roach in preparation for his U.S. debut, Singh has left his wife and son at home in India, relegating himself to an isolated regimen of eating, sleeping and breathing boxing in Hollywood.
"I’m alone here. I wake up every day at 6 and go to the gym,” Singh says about his morning routine for the past two weeks. "I just came back from the gym now and I have one more training session in the evening, so I’m just by myself here. It’s a kind of sacrifice. I miss my family, of course, but thanks to FaceTime and WhatsApp (I can see them).”
This isn’t Singh’s first time in the U.S. He has touched down on American soil before, once even meeting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Associating himself with Roach and Arum’s Top Rank wasn’t a hard decision for Singh, who was especially impressed with the way they helped turn Manny Pacquiao into an international superstar. Also, Singh loved that Arum worked with his idol, Muhammad Ali. Although he would be hard-pressed to garner the kind of fanfare he generates in India, the projections of winning bouts in the U.S. and serving as a direct pipeline for fellow Indian boxers competing in America is something that excites Singh.
"There’s a lot of huge potential, but we have to explore the whole market," Singh says. “There’s a billion people. So much quantity is there. We just choose the quality. That’s the thing we need to do. It will be a big thing for Indian people.”
Currently, India touts a bubbling boxing scene, with the country having recently held a national camp for 50 boxers vying to represent India in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. According to the Times of India, C A Kuttappa, the same coach who helped cultivate Singh’s skills, is serving as the national team’s head coach, perhaps signaling that the program is in good hands.
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With that said, Singh winning his U.S. debut April 12 would help further spark India’s interest in boxing. But becoming the first Indian to win a world boxing title and doing it in the U.S. could create an all-out fever for the Sweet Science in India.
“It’s a dream to be fighting in USA,” says Singh. “I’m here for boxing, to fully focus and do my job for my people, so they feel proud when they see me.”
Singh says he’d love to vie for a world title at Madison Square Garden in the near future. Until then, pressing start on his U.S. debut at Staples Center activates his boxing dreams and exhilarates a nation.
