Mary Kom set to fight in Asian Boxing Championships

Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom will compete at the Asian Boxing Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi next month.

It will be the Indian boxing legend’s second competition since the COVID-19 pandemic after the 38-year-old Mary Kom returned to the ring at the Boxam tournament in Spain last month.

Mary Kom, however, was rusty at the Boxam meet. The six-time world champion won an unimpressive opening round and lost the next bout, the semi-finals, by a 4:1 split verdict. She settled for a bronze medal.

For the upcoming Asian meet, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) carried out selection trials in non-Olympic weight categories last weekend in New Delhi. In all, 10 women boxers will participate in the Asian championships.

Indian boxers who have qualified for the Olympics were exempt from trials. This included Mary Kom (51kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg).

Pooja had won a gold medal in the Asian meet held in Bangkok in 2019 in the 81kg category while Simranjit claimed silver in the 64kg. Both were also last in action at Boxam. Mary Kom had opted out of the 2019 Asian championships.

Other boxers who made the cut for the Asian Boxing Championships are Monica (48kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg), Jasmine Lamboria (57kg), Pwilao Basumatary (64kg), Saweety Boora (81kg) and Anupama (+81kg).

The boxers are currently in a bio-bubble in a national camp at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.