Mary Kom to make competitive boxing return in March

Indian boxing legend and Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom will be back in competitive action for the first time in a year at the Boxam meet in Valencia, Spain in March.

Mary Kom was last seen in the ring at the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Amman, Jordan in March 2020, where she sealed a berth at the Tokyo Olympics for her second appearance at the Games.

All nine Indian boxers who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics so far will be seen in action at Boxam meet, an international boxing tournament, to be held from March 1 to March 7.

The tournament will also be a competitive return for Manish Kaushik, who qualified for his maiden Olympics at Amman but had suffered an injury during the process.

The other Tokyo-bound boxers taking part in Boxam are Amit Panghal, Vikas Krishan, Ashish Kumar, Satish Kumar, Simranjit Kaur, Lovlina Borgohain, and Pooja Rani.

Amit Pangal rejected an invitation from the Iranian boxing league and opted to compete in Boxam instead after consulting his coaches. The two events were also clashing.

Apart from these nine, the 14-member contingent will include Mohammad Hussamuddin, Sumit Sangwan, Sanjeet, Manisha Moun, and Jasmine Lamboria.

Their participation at Boxam means that the 14 Indian boxers will miss the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria. Considered the oldest boxing competition in Europe, the Strandja Memorial will hold its 72nd edition a week before Boxam.

However, the Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) high-performance director, Santiago Nieva felt Boxam will offer a higher level of competition for the Tokyo-bound pugilists.

However, there will still be Indian representation at the Strandja Memorial as Kavinder Bisht, Deepak, Ankush Dahiya, Duryodhan Singh Negi, Ankit Khatana, Sachin Kumar, Manjeet Sandhu, Naveen Boora, and Naveen Kumar will travel to Bulgaria.

Among the women, Jyoti, Sakshi, Shashi Chopra, Lalita, and Bhagyabati Kachari will lead the Indian women's charge.