Mary Kom wins historic sixth title at World Boxing Championships
The London 2012 bronze medallist from India defeats Ukraine's Hanna Okhota by unanimous decision, 5-0
Boxing
Mary Kom has cemented her place as a boxing legend.
The Indian fighter claimed her sixth AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships title, becoming the first woman in history to do so.
The 35-year-old defeated Ukraine's Hanna Okhota by unanimous decision to win the 48kg light flyweight title in front of her home fans at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
The London 2012 bronze medallist's victory puts her on level with Cuban legend Felix Savon as the joint most successful boxer (Men and Women) in the history of World Championships with as many as six gold medals.
By reaching the finals, Kom had become the first woman to claim a record seven medals at the Worlds, surpassing the now-professional Katie Taylor of Ireland.
Magnificent Mary does it again
The Indian boxing queen had earlier defeated Okhota in Poland earlier in 2018. The Ukrainian is a junior European champion and she had also won a silver medal at the Youth World Championships.
Unfortunately, youth was no match for experience in the final as ‘Magnificent Mary’ released her range of punches to win the three-round fight by unanimous decision, 5-0.
A remarkable achievement for the mother of three, whose last appearance in a final at the Worlds was in 2010 – a bout she won.
“The feeling of walking to the ring and seeing a packed arena cheering my name is just impressive,” Kom told Aiba.org on her memorable experience that delighted the home crowd.
“At the very first moment, I have a second where the idea of losing and disappoint all these people crossed my mind.
"But it went really quickly, their support has helped me to perform even better.”
Kom took silver in the first Women's World Championship in 2001 and then went on to win five titles between 2002 to 2010.
Her historic sixth title on home soil earned her praise by the Prime Minister of India.
Kom wants more
Kom's experience in the ring stretches nearly two decades.
Her accolades also include the 2014 Asian Games gold medal as well as 2018 Commomwealth Games gold.
A few months shy of her 36th birthday, she has no plans to slow down.
She is using the event as part of her build-up for Tokyo 2020, after missing qualification for the Rio Olympics.
“The Olympic gold medal is the only one missing in my trophy cabinet. I will try to bring it back from Tokyo." - Kom tells Aiba.org.