New Boxers Are Tougher, Smarter And Faster, Says Mary Kom

Aiming to win a sixth World Championship gold, the legendary MC Mary Kom on Monday said that she is well aware of the young energy in the circuit and prepared to face them.

Leading the Indian contingent for the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, Kom claimed that she would use her experience to counter the more enthused boxers. "There are boxers from my batch who are still playing in my category since 2001. I know them very well. The new boxers are more tough and smart, they are faster. I will use my experience. The past boxers are more or less the same, I know them," Mary Kom told reporters ahead of the tournament.

The 35-year-old celebrated boxer is competing in her seventh World Boxing Championship in New Delhi, slated to begin on Wednesday. In her quest for a sixth World Championships gold, Kom is training harder than ever. She enters the mega event as a five-time world champion, an Olympic silver medallist and an Asian Games gold medal winner.

"I need to have the energy to play three rounds, it is not about just one round, so accordingly we have to plan, how much capacity I have. Unnecessarily punching is also wasting energy."

Kom will face off boxers from 12 nations. "It was great sparring with foreign boxers for seven days, that sort of helped. While sparring, I found that there is a new set of boxers who are quite fast, but my experience counts and I will try to use that to my advantage against them," said Kom.

Also Read: Not ready to hang up her gloves: Remembering Mary Kom’s finest Sporting Moments

She is eyeing her second gold at home since 2006. She won gold the last time New Delhi hosted a world championship.

"Let them take videos, let them record whatever they want. Every competition is a challenge for us because in every competition we have fought different boxers, they keep changing. I will do what I am supposed to in the ring," said the mother of three.

"Now participants from Asian Games, CWG and Olympics all have been included and in every competition, they have got the exposure, so they have got more experience, so maybe because of the training program, maybe they have a good coach, that have all made them improve a lot. Even the boxers are clever and pick things quickly," she added.

Kom looks confident after clinching a medal in Women’s Boxing at the  Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast this year. She is the first Indian woman to win a boxing Gold in CWG

Talking about the country's boxers, she said, "Here in India, our boxers are mostly very slow, they pick up very slow. They will pick up later on but that would be very late for them. If they pick up fast, then it will be an advantage for us. So we should learn something new to reach that level."

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