Adventure sports: Percept ropes in Vijender Singh

Ashish Khurana - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
It seemed that Vijender Singh, who was on the verge of creating more history at the World Boxing Championships on Friday night, had another reason to cheer about.

Sports management firm Percept announced that it had roped in the Olympic bronze medallist to promote adventure sports in a deal said to be between Rs 5 to 7 crore.

Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept, was confident about the deal. "We are taking him on board. It is beyond endorsement, which is just a small pie. We want him to partner us in promoting adventure sports." he said.

However, Vijender Singh's current firm, IOS Pvt. Ltd, refuted the claims, wishing to clarify that the boxer from Bhiwani "is still contractually and legally bound to IOS for the next six years". IOS also expressed that they were not aware of the fact that Vijender had signed the deal.

Neerav Tomar, chief executive officer, IOS, said, "I am shocked to hear the news. We have supported him financially and more than that motivationally when no one looked at him and now if he is doing this for money it is very unethical of Vijender to have done something like this, let alone illegal if this is the case."

Meanwhile, Shailendra Singh discussed the terms of the agreement. "Vijender may do TV shows as well live shows. We will be investing our money and Vijender his time in the partnership," he said.

The boxer, himself, though, is not thinking about all these and has his eyes fixed on a final berth in the World Championship. What makes his words reassuring is not just the the power-packed punches he displays on court but also the steely resolve that crackles through his voice. Boxers are in general are a finicky lot, but Vijender likes to keep every things straight and simple.