While Vijender Singh’s resounding win in the WBO Asia Pacific Championships was certainly the biggest talking point on Saturday, another boxer was also in the news, prior to his bout.
MC Mary Kom was present at the venue to witness Vijender’s bout and ahead of that mega clash, took to the ring, not with gloves in hand but with a mike in hand.
The 33-year-old addressed the packed house at the Thygaraj Stadium in New Delhi and apologised to them as well as to the rest of the country for not qualifying for Rio Olympics 2016 and appreciated their efforts to make boxing more popular in India.
"I am sorry I couldn't qualify for the Olympics, but I thank each and every one of you present here for supporting boxing, and making it popular," Mary said.
The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist’s chances of qualifying for Rio were all but over when the International Olympic Committee rejected the Indian Boxing Council’s plea to grant her a wildcard to participate in the quadrennial event starting next month.
Despite that,however, Mary has squashed all talks of retiring from the sport, adding that she would now spend more time in training young kids at her academy as well as focussing on her own training.
