If I could maintain my fitness level, no one could beat me, says Mary Kom

“Honestly, making this comeback wasn't that tough. Since it was the 48-kg category and I have spent most part of my career fighting in that bracket, I knew that if I had prepared well, it would be easier for me. Generally, people find comebacks tough, and yes, they can be extremely tough. But even when I was away from boxing all this while - three years to be exact - I had made it a point to train every day for at least 45 minutes, either morning or evening. There have been other stuff too that required my attention such as my boxing academy and being the member of the athletes commission. And even though, I would dedicate my time to all of those things, boxing was always at the back of my mind. I knew that I could not afford to miss a beat and hence, I trained accordingly. I never stopped training. As the tournament grew closer, I increased my training time gradually. I knew that if I could maintain my fitness level, no one could beat me. In the hindsight, I believe it was a good decision to have not given up,” Mary Kom told TOI.

Asian Boxing Championships was the first big tournament for her in three years which she played at the age of 34. In the 2012 London Olympics, she won the bronze medal for India but failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. This failure gave a chance to the critics to raise questions about her ability but Mary Kom gave the answer in her own way. After the brilliant comeback, now the Manipuri boxer is focusing on the 2018 Commonwealth Games and doesn't want to lose her sleep over the participation at the Tokyo Olympics.

Earlier, Mary Kom decided to drop down her category from flyweight (51 kg) to light flyweight (48 kg) as she claimed that she feels comfortable in this weight category. She continued her training according to the plans and didn’t stop her training even though she was not competing in major tournaments.