Five-time world boxing champion Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom pursued the sport against the wishes of her parents and made a name for herself despite being told that the boxing ring was not the place for a woman by family members and people from her village.
Nevertheless, the gritty Manipuri with an iron fist battled on and is now the country’s most successful female pugilist.u00a0But after making tremendous sacrifices to just get a chance to stand in the ring, the mother of two — like her parents once wished for her — does not want her three-and-a-half-year-old twin boys K Khupneivar and K Rechungar to don the boxing gloves in the future.u00a0
Boxing ace MC Mary Kom u00a0with her mother Mangte Akham Kom at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Rane Ashish
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Brave as she is, Mary Kom feels she won’t be able to find the courage to see her children take punches the way she does. “I’m very sure that I don’t want my kids to take up boxing as a career as it is a very harsh game. Whether you win or lose, you got to take the punches. My mother Mangte Akham Kom gets very scared and breaks down in tears when I get punched in the ring. I don’t have the courage to see my kids being punched in the ring,” the 29-year-old told MiD DAY at the sidelines of an event in the city yesterday.u00a0
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee, who plies her trade in the 51kg category, is yet to book a berth in the London Games and she will get her chance in the last qualifying event for Indian boxers — World Championship in Qinhuangdao, China (May 9-20).
“I’m giving my best, beyond that, it’s not in my hands. I’m the only five-time World Champion in India. I have already given everything for my country. I know that Olympics is the biggest sporting event and I want to win a medal there. But if I don’t I can’t do much. I will just continue to keep my focus on my training,” she added.u00a0
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