As Vijender Singh was getting ready for his semi-final bout at the world championships in Milan, two sports management companies back home were sparring over representing him.

While Percept Holdings announced on Friday that they had signed Vijender to a contract “to promote action sports” in the country, Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS), who have been handling Vijender’s commercial engagements since 2005, said they had exclusive rights to represent the boxer and no other sports management firm could have any dealings with him.

“This is not only completely unethical but also illegal. We have an exclusive Client Representation Agreement with Vijender Singh signed on September 15, 2005 for a period of 10 years. We hold exclusive rights to represent him in all commercial possibilities and as such Percept cannot claim that they have signed any kind of deal with him whatsoever,” IOS’s CEO Neerav Tomar told The Indian Express from Milan.

He added that IOS would not hesitate to take recourse to legal action, if needed. “I have been unable to talk to Vijender about it but we’ll speak after his semi-final bout. If this news is true, there is no way he can sign up with any other sports management company. We supported him when he was nobody and now that he is a star, the big players want to cash in on his popularity,” Tomar said.

However, Shailendra Singh, Joint MD of Percept, said that was no conflict of interest. “We’ve not signed any deal regarding managing his endorsements. What we have entered into is a business partnership wherein we will be associated with Vijender for live programming and ground events, including live events, to promote action and adventure sports. In case there are any endorsements or brand association offers that come through during our association, we would like IOS to continue handling them,” he said. Vijender himself was not immediately unavailable for comments.