Vijender Singh will be against Kerry Hope in the bout scheduled on July 16. (Source: PTI) Vijender Singh will be against Kerry Hope in the bout scheduled on July 16. (Source: PTI)

The face-off is a time honoured tradition in boxing promotion. Fighters usually go eyeball to eyeball a couple of days before the bout itself. There’s still about forty days to go before Vijender Singh and Kerry Hope fight it out for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title belt at the Thyagaraj Stadium on July 16, but that didn’t stop Vijender’s promoters from conducting a face-off between the two boxers in New Delhi on Monday. Nothing puts bums on fight seats like the notion of heat — real or made up — between opponents, and with 7000 seats to sell at the Thyagaraj Stadium, it must have seemed a good idea for Vijender and his opponent to appear to have a problem with each other a little more than a month before they actually have any reason to.

Hope did his best to play the part of villain. In his first words to the media, he derided Vijender’s amateur career and Olympic and world medals. “He is a superstar in India, but to me he is just a boxer. He has been pro for a year, I have been pro for 12 years. I bring a lot of experience. I know the crowd will be behind him but I like being the underdog. The pressure is on him. He has to train harder,” the 34-year-old Hope said at a press conference before the face-off.

The face-off itself dripped aggression. Hands folded behind their backs, eyes locked unblinking, Vijender and Hope stepped forward till their noses — the Indian’s aquiline, the Australian’s more mangled — bumped together. It was left to promoter Francis Warren to put his hand between the two boxers to separate them. For what it was worth, about an hour later both boxers went to lunch together.

Hope knows the drill. Born in Wales, the 33-year-old has been around for a while and has boxed across the world. With a record of 23-7, Hope will undoubtedly be Vijender’s most accomplished opponent so far. With only four of his defeats coming by way of knock outs, the Australian is easily Vijender’s toughest rival. Like Vijender, Hope too was managed by a Warren — albeit Francis’ legendary father Frank. And like the Indian, currently 6-0, Hope knows what its like to have a perfect record. He had racked up a 11-0 streak at the start of his career before losing his first fight.

That journey had its highest point in 2012, when in a major upset Hope beat Grzegorz Proksa (26-0 at that point) by majority decision to win the European middleweight title. It was a win that saw him ranked as the third best middleweight by the WBA. Following that peak, though Hope’s career has had its share of troughs. His biggest challenge has been getting used to fighting as an away boxer. He complains of hometown decisions going against him. “No one reads a lot into the losses that I have faced. I’ve had a number of bouts that I should have won but haven’t. It just shows up as a scratch against my name,” shrugs Hope.

Hope has genuine reason to feel aggrieved. The Australian’s last bout — against Petchsuriya Singwancha for the WBC Asian middleweight title – was declared a draw. The decision — which came after two local Thai judges inexplicably declared Singwancha the winner — was however overturned by the WBC after a review.

Then there are the struggles simply to find an opponent. As someone who is brought in by rival promoters to challenge their boxer, but hopefully not beat them, Hope hasn’t been playing along and seems to have been categorised in the “too hard basket”. Indeed, the Australian had been inactive for eight months following his last win — against Petchsuriya Singwancha for the WBC Asian middleweight title. “I’m in a bit of a tough situation really. I simply don’t get enough fights. I’m literally open to facing anyone in the country,” said Hope. “But my phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook,” Hope says.

And while he knows that he is expected to be knockout number seven in Vijender’s career, Hope has plans of his own. He sees this as an opportunity to get his name back as a contender. “When I beat Vijender, I will get a ranking in the WBO once again. Then Francis owes me a shot at the world title,” he says.

Vijender doesn’t have time left for Oly trials: Francis Warren PTI adds from New Delhi: Meanwhile, Vijender’s UK-based promoter Warren has made it clear that India’s biggest star simply does not have the time left to try for a Rio ticket. Ever since AIBA opened the Olympics for professional pugilists, India’s most successful boxer Vijender has been faced with just one question: will he give it a shot?

The former Olympic and World Championships bronze-medallist has maintained that if there is an opportunity for him to give it a shot, he would grab it. And by opportunity, he means the final Olympic Qualifier in Venezuela, which has been thrown open to pro boxers.

“I won’t at all be happy, if he wants to go there. As I see it, there is no time. Of course he is his own man, he has his own mind but that cannot hinder with what we have planned for him because it’s taken a year to reach where he has. He has contractual obligations with us,” Warren said.

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