Olympics 2016: Vijender Singh eager to represent India in Rio Games

New Delhi: Few days after International Boxing Association (AIBA) gave green signal to professional boxers to compete in Olympics, ace Indian boxer Vijender Singh decided to take part in the Olympic qualifiers for Rio Games.

Vijender will be competing in qualifiers for pro boxers, slated to take place in Venezuela next month.

But, the Olympic bronze medalist can only book a Rio ticket in the 75kg category, if another Indian pugilist Vikas Krishnan fails to grab a berth in the final qualifier, which is scheduled to take place in Baku, from June 16 to 25.

Vijender, who became a professional boxer last year, is quite eager to cash in the opportunity given by AIBA to represent his country in Rio as he said, “I am ready to even pay from my own pocket.”

As Rio qualifiers for Pro boxers are scheduled in the first week of July, Vijender has already discussed the matter with is promoters to look for possibility of his participation as per the report in DNA.

At present, Shiva Thapa is the lone Indian boxer to have qualified for the Rio Games.