New Zealand's Cairo George (15-1-0, 8KOs) returns to the ring this Saturday when he faces off against Indonesia's Robert Kopa Palue (14-7-3, 4KOs) in a six round bout at Singapore's exclusive Mariana Bay Sands Hotel.

The fight will form part of the undercard for Ringstar promotions Roar of Singapore- Kings of Lion City event.

The 'Waikato Warrior 'is in the early stages of his promotional contract with Ringstar.

His last bout was a first-round stoppage of China's Spencer Zhang, and he looks to continue his excellent form when he steps into the ring against the 34-year-old Indonesian veteran whom George regards as a gatekeeper to potentially higher profile fights.

'He has a lot more fights than me and to be fair he has probably fought better competition, we are pretty much ranked similar, but he has fought those tough guys and has never been able to beat them,” George said in an interview last week.

'He [Palue] has always been beaten at the top level, so he is a good sort of opponent for me to cross into that next level of guys and show that I am at that next level. I think it's a good little tester for me to go over there and test the waters with someone who has been in there with tough opposition.”

George trains predominantly in his home city of Hamilton and is fortunate to be surrounded by some of the nation's top Combat Sports athletes.

'I think down in Waikato we have some of the best talent in the country,” George said.

Boxing commonwealth gold medallist David Nyika and his brother Joshua, who has competed professional, are based in Hamilton as well as UFC fighter Luke Jumeau. MMA fighter Matt Vaile who appears to be on the cusp of breaking into the UFC also trains alongside George.

George still makes regular trips to Auckland to train under the watchful eyes of Lolo Heimuli, who is George's head trainer, at Balmoral Lee Gar in the city centre.

The pair flew out to Singapore earlier this week, ensuring that George will be well rested and over his jet lag by the time he steps into the ring on Saturday.

Singapore is fast becoming a hub for the booming Combat Sports industry in South East Asia with Ringstar promotions and the world's largest Martial Arts promotion ONE Championship based in the city-state.

For George, the deal with Ringstar provides him with not only a platform on the world stage but also the opportunity to compete in his preferred weight class.

The Hamilton-based fighter is naturally a super lightweight or lightweight. However, due to a lack of local opponents in those weight classes, George often found himself competing as a welterweight when fighting in New Zealand.

The challenge of fighting in those higher weight classes did not stop him from claiming both a national welterweight title and an IBO Asia Pacific welterweight championship. However, as the 28-year-old George enters the next stage of his career, he understands that if he to progress to the next level in terms of competition he needs to be fighting in his natural weight class.

Boxing in Asia, where more fighters compete in the lighter divisions gives George a greater pool of potential opponents to draw upon. This will ensure his career will not be hampered by the problem of having to source fights.

It is a problem that can impact New Zealand's more talented boxers who, after boxing professionally for a couple of years often run out of homegrown opponents to test their mettle against. It can then be a struggle to book the fights needed to transition from a highly ranked local fighter to a genuine international prospect.

Thankfully the 'Waikato Warrior” now only needs to focus on his training and his in-ring performance. Saturday's bout will provide him with the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills to an audience of millions and lay down the challenge to his nearest rivals in the region.

For those wanting to watch the fight the undercard will be streamed live on Ringstar's Facebook page starting at 7pm Singapore time (11pm NZ time).

New Zealand boxer Chase Haley (5-3-1, 2 KOs) will also be fighting on the undercard.

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