Brands line up to sign on boxer Vijender Kumar

BRAND VIJENDER: The boxer blocked all queries on modelling and celebrity status.

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New Delhi: Move over M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Sania Mirza - there is a new heart-throb in Indian sport and he is Vijender Kumar. The Olympic bronze medallist achieved yet another first on Thursday, unveiling of "Brand Vijender"!

"I want to touch the heights. The London Olympics is my next target, but I will remain the same person that I am now," says he.

After the celebration come the rewards. When Vijender Kumar left for Beijing, not a single sponsor lined up to woo him. Now that he has returned with a medal wrapped around his neck, Vijender seems to have boarded the fame train pretty quickly.

He isn't just a brand ambassador of an insurance company alone, but also the first face of Indian boxing.

"The youth should look up to him and they should also agree that he can be identified with," says Marketing Head Bajaj Allianz, Akshay Mehrotra.

So it's not surprising that Vijender has got himself a safe pair of gloves to protect those medal-winning fists with.

I am insuring my wrists. They are very important to me and it is because of them that I have reached where I have," says Vijender.

The boxer blocked all queries on modelling and celebrity status.

"If I get time, I will do some modelling. As far as dates are concerned, I will inform you when I go for a date," he says.

It was clear where his heart lay.

"My first priority is and will remain boxing, because this has what has got me fame and I will never leave it," says Vijender.

But this is just the beginning. Keep an eye out on the hoardings when you drive around your city next for this looker from Bhiwani maybe staring down at you.