India's Mary Kom became the most successful woman boxer in history. She beat Ukraine's Hanna Okhota, 22, in a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the 48kg category summit bout. The mother of three had won gold in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 editions of the Women's World Boxing Championship and was tied at five gold medals with Katie Taylor of Ireland. Having won a silver medal in the 2001 edition, the 35-year-old Manipuri boxer now has record seven medals to her name in the biennial amateur boxing event.
With this gold, Mary Kom also matched Cuba's Felix Savon as the joint most successful boxer - men and women - in the World Championships history. Felix Savon, who also won three Olympic gold medals during his illustrious career, has won six gold and one silver in heavyweight in the World Championships between 1986 and 1989. In the semi-final, Mary Kom had defeated North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi in a unanimous 5-0 decision to enter the final of the championships.
Mary wants one more go at the Olympics
Thirty-five is an age when most athletes start planning their retirement but not Mary. She is already thinking ahead to 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “I will try my level best to qualify for the Olympics. The work for that begins right now. I will change my weight category. But I can’t do it alone. I’ll need help from my nutritionist, physio and coaches, only then can I perform in the ring,” Mary, who came down from 51kg to 48kg after failing to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, said. Mary won the World title after a gap of eight years and said that the fact that she had to change her weight so many times after 2011 led to that.
“I have always said if I train regularly, no one can beat me. Winning is getting easier for me these days. Earlier, I had to use a lot of energy and power but with experience I have improved my skills. I had to change my weight categories so often. If I had continued in 48kg, I would have won more medals,” the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion said. After failing to qualify for Rio, Mary took a break from the game till 2017 Asian Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, in which she promptly won gold followed by another gold at the CWG in Gold Coast this year.
