The first look posters of Arun Vijay's upcoming sports drama, Boxer, co-starring Ritika Singh, has now been released.

In one of the posters, Arun sports a savage, bearded look with a wild, braided hairdo and a severely bruised eye, flanked by a similarly bruised Rithika Singh. In another poster, Arun, in Nike boxer-shorts, is seen kneeling down inside the boxing ring, with his hands in the air, probably in celebration of a victory. 

Arun Vijay, in preparation for his role, had been training in traditional boxing for the past couple of months under the guidance of stunt choreographer, Peter Hein. The Thadam actor also flew to Vietnam in May to train in mixed martial artists at Lien Phong Training Center. The MMA training was headed by Johnny Tri-Nguyen, the fighter who played the villain in Suriya’s 7aum Arivu and Atharvaa’s Irumbu Kuthirai.

Directed by debutant Vivek, Boxer will see Arun Vijay share screen space with Ritika Singh, who is a professional mixed martial artist. The Irudhi Suttru actor will be essaying the role of a boxer-turned-sports journalist in the film.

Director Vivek had earlier mentioned to us that Boxer, while avoiding the usual cliches associated with the rags-to-riches underdog story, will explore the kinds of pressure an established boxer faces. "The film will be about how he confronts his own demons and pushes the bar," he had said.

Boxer, with music by D Imman and cinematography by Markus A Lujungbern (London), is produced by V Mathiyalagan under his Etcetrera Entertainement banner. The film is expected to hit theatres in the third-quarter of this year.