Battleground Asia: Neeraj Goyat books his place with Vijender Singh, will defend his subsequent title

New Delhi: WBC Asia Pacific welterweight champion Neeraj Goyat will join Vijender Singh in putting his title on the line during the ‘Battleground Asia’ fight night where Olympians Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar will make their professional debuts on 5 August. In the double title fight, WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight champion Vijender will take on Chinese No.1 and WBO Oriental Super Middleweight champion Zulpikar Maimaitiali in a winner-takes-all main event. [caption id=“attachment_3048112” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Neeraj Goyat. Image courtesy: Pro-boxing India via Facebook.[/caption] The other two key boxers Akhil Kumar (Junior Welterweight - 63.5 Kg) will take on Australian TY Gilchrist and Jitender Kumar (Lightweight - 61.2 Kgs) will face Thanet Likhitkamporn from Thailand in their debut fights. Neeraj, on the other hand, will be looking to defend his title belt against Allan Tanada of Philippines in a 10-round contest. The others joining the fight card are Pardeep Kharera, Dharmender Grewal and Kuldeep Dhanda. The 26-year-old Neeraj has fought 12 bouts with an experience of 71 rounds under his belt and claimed 8 wins, with 2 knockouts. The Indian is currently placed 35th in the WBC list which was updated after his victory over Australian Ben Kite, who he defeated to retain his title. In 2016, he had won bronze medal in the AIBA Pro Boxing Olympic qualifier. “I have worked very hard for this belt and this belt means a lot to me. I am not going to let anyone take it from me. I am putting in a lot of labour and muscles to make sure that the belt remains with me on 5 August 2017,” Neeraj said. The 21-year old Pardeep Kharera (welterweight) will face Wanphichit Siriphana of Thailand in six-round contest. Siriphana debuted in the year 2014 and has fought three bouts since then. Dharmender Grewal will square off against Isaac Slade of Australia in a six-round contest, in the Cruiserweight category (90.7 Kgs).