MC Mary Kom’s participation status in the World Championships still up in the air.

Mary Kom said she wants to give young and upcoming boxers a chance to make a name for themselves. (FILE)

It was recently revealed that six-time world champion Mary Kom had decided to skip the National Championships which is being held in Hisar. Now, we have a definitive answer to why she has chosen to do so. Speaking to Indian Express on the sidelines of a Puma-organised event, she revealed that she did not take part in the event because she wants to give young and upcoming boxers a chance to make a name for themselves.

“This is not the first time that I have skipped a National Championship event. Why I skip is I want to give an opportunity to upcoming boxers to win a medal in the National games and make a name for themselves on the national stage. If I keep on fighting, they might not get that opportunity to win a medal in the National Championships,” she said.

She also shed light on her participation status for the World Championships. “I got a very short notice. A couple of days ago, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) announced that whoever is a national champion will go for the World Championships. If I got the information a little bit earlier or if they had given us a notice, like just after the Olympics, that whoever is a national champion will be able to participate in the World Championships, I think it would have been better.”

It may be mentioned here that the BFI has announced that only gold medal winners from the Nationals will make the squad for the World Championships.

“I thought I will give the trial this time for a place in the World Championships. But I don’t know what BFI has decided. Everything is up in the air at the moment. If they will hold any other trial for the World championship, I will be happy to give the trial,” the champion pugilist said.

When asked about her views on the fact that AIBA has decided to give out cash prize and belts to World Championships medallists, she said, “This is not the first time. AIBA has already done this in the Asia championship also. I competed in the Dubai Asia championship. There also was a cash prize for the winner of the competition.”

The women’s boxing world championships will be held in Istanbul in early December and will offer a total prize money of USD 2.6 million, same amount as marked for the men’s event, due to start on October 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.