Mary Kom Retires: Six-Time World Champion Draws Curtain On Boxing Career

Mary Kom Retires: The six-time world champions drew curtain on a remarkable boxing career on Wednesday (January 24).

Mary Kom said that she has been forced to retire from the sport owing to the age-restriction.

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Mary Kom, India's boxing legend, announced her decision to retire from sport on Wednesday (January 24). She cited age limitations as restriction to compete in tournaments as the primary reason for her decision. The 41-year-old said that she was "forced to quit" owing to the age limit when otherwise she still has the hunger in her to continue to compete at the highest level. 

"I have the hunger still but unfortunately because of the age limit it is over I cannot compete in any competition. I want to play more but I am being forced to quit (due to the age limit). I have to retire. I have achieved everything in my life," Mary Kom said at an event, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Mary Kom holds the distinction of being the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal in women's boxing. She achieved the feat in the 51kg category at the London Olympics in 2012. Prior to her win at the Olympics, she had already won the World Boxing Championships a record five times. She then went on to add yet another world championships title to her credit. Her last international medal came at the Asian Championships in 2021, where she managed to clinch a silver. The Manipuri pugilist ends her career with an envious tallly of 8 world championship medals, 7 Asian championship medals, 2 Asian Games medals to go with a Commonwealth Games gold medal.

What Is The International Boxing Associaton Rule that Forced Mary Kom To Retire?

While Mary Kom has opted to retire citing the rules, for the unversed, the International Boxing Association's (IBA) rules allow male and female boxers to compete at the "elite level" only till the age of 40 which is what practically disqualifies the Indian boxing legend from competing in IBA-recognised competitions. As per Rule 2.1.2 Of the IBA Technical and Competition Rules, only Men and Women Boxers aged between 19 and 40 are categorised as Elite Boxers.