It was a fantastic effort from the veteran, who gave her all against 2016 Rio Bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia.
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Legendary Indian boxer Mary Kom has crashed out of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, after being defeated by Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia in their round of 16 bout. The 38-year-old bows out in the second round having delivered a fine performance in the contest against the reigning Olympic Bronze medalist. While the veteran must certainly have been left disappointed by the 2-3 verdict, she welcomed the decision with a smile before going on to hug her opponent.
Kom’s defeat is a major blow considering the fact that a triumph would have seen her inch just one win away from securing a medal for the nation. India has performed exceedingly well in Boxing so far. Lovlina Borgohain, Pooja Rani, and Satish Kumar are just a triumph away from securing a medal.
Both the boxers started slowly in the first round, with a lot of caution ensured in every move. There was a lot of stake for the two champions, and it reflected in their approach. However, Valencia managed to impress the judges more than Kom which reflected in the 4-1 scoreline. 4 judges ruled in favour of the Colombian with just one positively inclined towards the Indian boxer.
The second round witnessed a lot more aggression from Kom, with her agile movements, fast hands, and strong punches leaving the Colombian in a spot of bother. The Indian was not ready to either slow down or give up despite losing the first round, which reflected in her approach. This had the desired impact on the judges who gave a 3-2 verdict in favour of Kom.
The third round witnessed a lot of enthralling action, with both boxers covering a lot of ground. The audience further indicated its enthusiasm through a lot of cheers which were heard ringing out all around the arena. Kom looked sharp with her left hooks and jabs, but the Colombian seemed more confident and assured in her approach.
While the Indian fans were optimistic about a result in favour of the legendary boxer, three judges awarded the fight to the Colombian with the other two ruling in Kom’s favour. This saw the latter being knocked out in the round of 16 stages, marking the end to an exciting contest.
Satish Kumar is through to the quarterfinals of the men’s super heavyweight boxing event. Kumar beat Ricardo Brown of Jamaica on Thursday to book his spot in the final eight.
Satish won the first round by unanimous decision, with his counter-punching working well against the Jamaican. Brown’s errant punching didn’t help; the big man clearly packs a punch but wasn’t accurate enough for his liking. As a result, Brown came out swinging even harder in the second round. He did land a few good body blows and even managed to bust open Kumar.
However, the round was awarded to Kumar but this time in a split decision. The Indian landed a few meaty blows of his own when the time came and managed to see out the round. Brown again came out hard in Round 3, but Kumar was content to sit back and counter punch. Given he was leading the match, it was a strategy that made sense.
He ended up taking the third round too, although his win came via split decision. Still, that will matter little to the Indian, who is through to the quarters after a clinical display.
