Vijender to fight Markham for 3rd title

Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will be gunning for his third professional title when he takes on Briton Lee Markham for the Commonwealth Super Middleweight belt on July 13 in London.

"I will be competing for my third title on July 13 against Lee. I am training for it right now. The fight will take place in York Hall, London," the Indian, who is undefeated and holds the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental titles, told PTI from his training base in Manchester.

The man he will be squaring off against has 22 fights, 17 of them wins, under his belt compared to the 10 victorious outings by the former Olympic bronze-medallist.

The fight will be Vijender's first in six months since he successfully defended his twin titles in the clash against Ghana's Ernest Amuzu in Jaipur.

"I had been waiting for the right time and this title fight is just the step I need to take in my professional career. It is a vacant title so there is nobody defending it. The fight will be under WBO, like my other two titles," added Vijender.

Markham hasn't competed since June last year when he lost to Joe Mullender in a clash for the English middleweight title.

The Commonwealth title is without a holder since January after reigning champion Rocky Fielding decided to vacate it in pursuit of the European belt in the same weight category.

"There was talk of fighting Rocky earlier but that didn't work out because he didn't want to fight for this same belt. So, now it is Lee," Vijender said.

Fielding would have been a formidable opponent for the Indian as he has lost only one fight in a total of 27 professional appearances.

Vijender is continuing to work with his British trainer Lee Beard, who has been his guide ever since he took the professional plunge back in 2015.