Vijender is assured of at least a bronze medal after entering the semifinals of the middleweight (75kg) category. His name secure as the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, Vijender is eager to go a step further when he fights the last-four bout on Friday.

As is to be expected, the journey gets tougher from hereon. His opponent is Emilio Correa Bayeax of Cuba, a boxer with a good record.

Emilio was third at the World Championships in 2005 and is the reigning Pan-American Games champion. His father, Emilio Correa Vaillant was one of the top boxers in the world in the seventies and won the Olympic gold in welterweight at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

"My father gave me so much good advice and I am trying to follow it. My dream is to become an Olympic champion like him," said Emilio, one of the eight Cubans in the semifinals of the boxing competition.

The 23-year-old just waltzed through his early rounds with easy wins over Jarrod Fletcher of Australia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Ukraine. But in the quarters, he had to overcome a hard challenge from Elshod Rasulov of Uzbekistan.

"I was desperate. I didn't know his style and even though I was confident before the bout, I got desperate," said the Cuban after the quarterfinal bout.

Despite Emilio's record and pedigree, Vijender expressed confidence that he would be able to take him in his stride.

The defeat of Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar had dented India's chances of a better haul, but the boxer with movie-star ambitions – who also comes from a family of boxers – said he would give it his all in the semifinal bout.
"My aim is to win and nothing else," he said, adding that he will look at the Cuban's videos to form his strategy ahead of the fight. Win or lose, one thing is certain on Friday – Vijender will return a hero.