India’s top medal prospects at Tokyo Olympics and their main challengers: Mary Kom
Mary Kom will be fighting in the fiercely competitive 51kg division at Tokyo 2020 - her last Olympics.
MC Mary Kom is revered as the greatest Indian boxer of all time and will be spearheading India’s pursuit of winning medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
The boxing legend from Manipur has won six gold medals at the World Championships, five titles at the Asian Championships, along with golds at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
The world No. 3 in the flyweight division (51kg), Mary Kom returned with a bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics when women’s boxing debuted at the quadrennial event.
After missing Rio 2016, Mary Kom booked her ticket to Tokyo 2020 by claiming bronze at the Asia-Oceania Boxing Qualifiers in 2020. The 38-year-old will now be aiming to get her hands on another medal at the Olympics, which she claims will be her last.
However, there are a few pugilists that can pose a challenge to Mary Kom at Tokyo 2020.
Buse Naz Cakiroglu (Turkey)
Top achievements: World championship silver medallist (2019) and European champion (2019).
What makes her special? The 25-year-old Buse Naz Cakiroglu has risen through the ranks of the flyweight division in the last four years, winning numerous titles and dozens of bouts.
The European heavyweight clinched her maiden Olympic berth by winning European qualifiers in dominating fashion in June 2021. Moreover, the Turkish boxer has lost just five times since the Rio Olympics, winning gold at the European Games (2019), European Championships (2019) and European Union Championships (2017).
In her last encounter against Mary Kom, the world No. 2 Buse Naz Cakiroglu stopped the Indian ace from winning her seventh world title by defeating her in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Championships in Russia.
Ingrit Valencia (Colombia)
Top achievements: Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and Pan American Games gold medallist (2019).
What makes her special? Ingrit Valencia is one of the most decorated boxers from South America and is also among the most experienced in the 51kg division.
After opening her medal tally with a bronze at the South American Games in 2010, the Colombian has never looked back.
With an impressive record that reads 34 wins and 11 losses, world No. 8 Ingrit Valencia has won top honours at the Central American and Caribbean Games (2014 and 2018), South American Games (2018) and Pan American Games (2019).
Ingrit Valencia also clinched a bronze medal at her maiden Olympics in Rio after an impressive run saw her reach the semi-finals.
And although Ingrit Valencia went down to Mary Kom in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Championships, the South American can still pose a threat to the Indian’s campaign in Tokyo.
Virginia Fuchs (USA)
Top achievements: Bronze medallist at the World Championships (2018) and silver medallist at the Pan American Games (2019).
What makes her special? Virginia Fuchs is one of the few boxers to have outpunched Mary Kom in two bouts.
The American got the better of Mary Kom at the Rio Olympics Test event in 2015 before ousting the Indian in the semi-finals of the Boxam tournament in Spain, earlier this year.
Virginia Fuchs, a hard-hitting southpaw from Houston, is the most experienced US women boxer, winning the national championship thrice and reaching the finals on seven occasions.
It remains to be seen whether Mary Kom will be third time lucky if the two seasoned boxers’ paths cross at Tokyo 2020.