Legendary Indian boxer Mary Kom gave her all and came close to beating Ingrit Valencia in her Round of 16 showdown against the Colombian at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Thursday. However, the six-time world champion bowed out after a fiercely fought encounter that ended 2-3 in Valencia’s favour.
In quest of her second Olympic medal and elusive gold in Tokyo, Mary Kom started off on an aggressive note in her fight against Valencia, who was also up for the challenge. It was an intense face-off between the duo before Mary went down against the Rio Olympics bronze medallist.
Speaking to Times Now, a disappointed Mary Kom couldn’t control her emotions when asked how did she end up losing the bout. Kom said she thought she was clearly winning the fight and had also raised her hand in the ring, only to see Valencia declared the winner by a split decision.
“I still can’t believe myself. I thought I am still winning. Inside the ring, I raised my hand because I clearly knew I was winning,” Mary Kom told Times Now’s Karishma Singh after her 3-2 loss in the women’s 51kg category.
The Indian legend lost the first round 10-9 after four out of the five judges scored in Valencia’s favour. She trailed 4-1 at the end of the first round but managed to get three out of the five judges to score in her favour in the next two rounds. However, the six-time world champion lost 3-2 after the overall score was in Valencia’s favour.
It was anyone’s fight with both the boxers unwilling to back off. The two boxers went toe-to-toe and Mary Kom managed to earn the respect and admiration of the sporting fraternity with her amazing strength and skills despite being 38. Nonetheless, disappointment was clear on her face as a teary-eyed Mary Kom slammed IOC over the decision of her bout against Valencia.
“I don’t know what to say I still can’t believe myself and don’t know what to say. Everybody is watching the match, they know who is winning. I am disappointed about the decision,” she told Times Now in Tokyo.
“I have done so much for IOC and their task force but in this boxing arena, I fought and what decision was made. I don’t know what’s wrong with them, I am so disappointed,” the 38-year-old went on to add.
Kom might have bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics but that won’t stop the multiple-time Asian champion and London Olympics bronze-medallist from continuing her quest for glory. While she admitted this was her last Olympics, she plans to continue boxing for at least a couple of more years and continue winning medals for India at the highest level.
“Of course I will keep fighting till 40, I can’t say about Olympics as I might not be able to go due to age. But still, I have another two years and I will fight,” she said.
