While India’s top professional boxer Vijender Singh wants to win Friday’s fight against Russian Artysh Lopsan in Goa’s capital city here to take his unbeaten run to 13-0, he also has a strong personal reason to do so.
 
Vijender, 35, wants to win this contest for his best friend, Jai Bhagwan, 37, who has become his coach-cum-sparring partner for this fight after the champion pugilist could not avail the services of his international coaches due to the COVID-19 restrictions. 

“He is Jai and I’m Viju, so our close friends call us Jai-Viru ki jodi [from the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra as best friends]. I have known Jai for over 20 years. He is also from Bhiwani, so we have practically grown up together. He was also an amateur boxer like me and represented the country at the [2012] London Olympics. Jai has worked very hard on me for this fight. I want to win this for him,” Vijender told mid-day after a sparring session with Bhagwan at the Salvador do Mundo Boxing Hall here on Wednesday.