The champion had a point to prove. When challenged, both in the ring and outside, Mary Kom responded in a vicious, even vengeful manner in felling challenger Nikhat Zareen 9-1 in a split verdict. India’s top boxer may not have won more hearts with her showing in the “artificial” trial that takes her into the qualifiers in China for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Each round may have seemed more a war than a series of battles as the two got into a catfight in a highly publicised contest.
Neither did the sport emerge an unqualified winner, nor did the winner prove an unblemished performer in the sporting sense. A sport with such brutal shades as boxing can be intensely personal: recall Muhammad Ali’s 1974 Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman, thought of as the sporting battle of the 20th century. Challenger Ali won then, so too did the sport, but not this time.
Lending competitive boxing in India several shades of grey is the injection of politics. Adding to the bout of terrible temper and free use of cusswords among the contestants were the antics of an official, the chairman of the Telangana Sports Authority, who got into the tussle, making allegations galore even after the bout was settled among 10 judges. Worse, far from lauding Mary Kom, he had only “galis” for her.
World boxing is already under a cloud with the International Boxing Association taking charge of the Olympic qualification process and conduct of boxing in the Olympics as the AIBA couldn't convince the IOC of its integrity. Amid all this, fighting mom Mary Kom, 36, remains our most doughty and colourful champion. We can only wish her gloves more fighting power in 2020, a significant year for all sport.
