New Delhi, March 25 : Indian professional boxer Neeraj Goyat, who will return to boxing on Saturday night in Guadalajara, Mexico, is confident of his bout against a seasoned boxer from America, Jose Zepeda and said that he will not take his opponent lightly adding that their duel will decide who is a better boxer.
Zepeda last fought in November 2022 against Regis Prograis, losing by knockout while Goyat was in the ring against Channarong Injampa in July last year, winning via knockout in Bangkok.
The three-time WBC Asia title winner, Goyat, turned professional in 2013 and since then has fought 22 bouts with a record of 17-3 with 7 knockouts (17-3-2 draws).He is the first Indian boxer to have made it to the WBC world rankings and has won the ‘Honorary Boxer of the Year’ by WBC Asia in 2017.
Speaking exclusively to IANS, Goyat said he will not take his opponent easy as Zepeda, who is one of the stalwarts in the world of professional boxing, has a total 35 wins from his 40 fights, 27 of them being knockouts.
“Jose Zepeda lost his last fight in November 2022 while I registered a knockout win earlier in July.So, maybe it can impact him that I win my last fight via knockout but I will not take it easy.I will have the same impression that he played a good fight because anyone can be hit by the timing punch.So, I will play following his good fight that he won, not the one who played last,” Goyat told IANS from Mexico.
“He was good, he is good but when I will fight with him in the ring, then only we will know who is good,” he added.
The 31-year-old Indian while speaking about his fitness regime and weight management also elaborated on how he ensures that he is in top physical shape for fights.
“When I am in my village or city, I always do fitness training.Like doing 10-10 km running.After running, I use to swim for three to four kilometres.So, I remain physically fit during that time too.I have also installed the complete fitness setup in my farmhouse.
“But when I have to do weight work and go to training camps, I am very careful about what I eat and drink during that time.I reduce the intake of carbs and the intake of protein is more,” said Goyat.
He further shared about the memorable fight of his career and said: “My most memorable fight was a 12-round fight for Asia Title in 2017 at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.That fight was really good.There was extreme crowd support.When I was a bit tired in the eighth round, then I saw the home crowd support, and everyone was supporting and cheering for me, afterwards, I did not even know how easily I played the next four rounds.
“If someone watches that fight of mine, then they will see that in the last 30 seconds of the 12th round, I was fighting very well to finish it off with a win,” he signed off.
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