Imagine you are shopping at a mall with your family. A bloody professional boxing bout is on in the parking lot with some of the best in the business at loggerheads and your adrenaline rush is just forcing you to be there. What would you do? Go there and watch.
This Friday, something like this may happen to you if you visit the T-Box Mobile Arena of Inorbit Mall in Malad. The Venky’s Mumbai Fighters will be hosting the formidable Astana Arlans in the fifth round Group A match of the World Series Boxing championship at the mall.
The Fighters are back in form and they showed it by getting better of LA Matadors in the last match.
It will be their first encounter of the season. The two sides have secured seven points each from four matches. Both teams have won two and lost two. However, the Fighters are placed above Astana Arlans as the hosts have won 12 out of their 20 bouts, whereas the visitors have 10 wins.
The match of the day, however, could be in the lightwight category between the in form Diwakar Prasad of Jamshedpur and No 1 ranked Mussafirov Yerzhan. Prasad recently won the national championship in Chettinad.
Prasad told DNA that he is looking forward to the bout. “The recent title has certainly boosted my confidence. But professional boxing is completely different from amateur.
“Here you don’t wear headgears even the gloves are thinner. But it is interesting and I am looking forward to don the gloves again,” said Prasad, who won the first bout for Mumbai Fighters against Milano Thunder in Balewadi Sports Complex last month.
As far as the venue is concerned, Prasad is quite upbeat about playing there. “It is a different venue where anyone can come and watch. Playing here can increase the popularity of the sport as general public may drop in to watch it,” he added.
Fighters coach SK Pal is upbeat about his team’s chances. “We are better placed. We stand a chance and are confident about putting up a good show,” he said.
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