Sarita Devi will cry on her professional debut, promises opponent Zsofia Bedo

New Delhi: Hungarian Zsofia Bedo, who will be former world champion L Sarita Devi’s opponent in the latter’s debut professional fight, has promised to reduce her to tears in the contest scheduled for 29 January in Imphal. Sarita’s response at the training camp in Rohtak has been short and terse, “You are finished”. “I tried to know more about my opponent. When you search for boxer Sarita, you find pictures of a lady in tears. I am going to add more such images to internet. Trust me,’ Bedo said referring to Sarita’s infamous meltdown at the 2014 Asian Games after a controversial semi-final loss. [caption id=“attachment_3218868” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Indian boxer Sarita Devi. PTI[/caption] When pointed that Sarita has been among India’s best amateur boxers, the Hungarian veteran of 59 professional bouts reacted by saying, “Professional boxing is a different world altogether.” “Here it’s going to be a fight to finish — 12 minutes and four rounds are going to be a lifetime for that lady and I don’t see her lasting that long.” “I am coming from a place, where we believe in complete knock outs even during training. There are not going to be soft punches for scoring points. Even if trainers had told Sarita this reality, experience in the ring is going to be painful for a long time to forget,” she added. Sarita is preparing for the bout under the Indian Boxing Council coach Joe Clough at SAI’s National Boxing Academy at Rohtak, Haryana. “I run an academy near Imphal. Young aspirants look up to me as a role model. The city is going to support me in a big number(s). I can’t let them down,” Sarita said. “Zsofia has experience. But she too has suffered defeats in the ring. Joe (the coach) has made me sweat so hard that if there will be blood in the ring, I am confident who is going to bleed. There have been days when I have sparred against two opponents. I promise, I will not let my city, my state and my country down,” she added. Sarita has been a four-time Asian Boxing Champion gold medallist, has under her belt the 2006 World Championship crown.