AIBA names Mary Kom as ambassador for World Championship

“It’s a great honour for me as an Indian. This title means that I will be representing international boxing and this is an honour which is not given to everybody,” Mary Kom told PTI.

The list of ambassadors also includes Nicola Adams of Great Britain, Team USA’s light flyweight Marlen Esparza, Adriana Arauja from the host country of this year’s Olympic Games Brazil, Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova and Morocco’s Khadija Mardi.

Mary Kom will be desperate to qualify for the Rio, which will be the last Olympics in her illustrious career. 12 quotas will be up for grabs at the World Championship, with over 300 female boxers contending for the 10 gold medals at stake. Mary is, however, not putting too much pressure on herself. She said, “There is always pressure but I know how to handle it because this is what I have been doing for the last many years. Whether I qualify or not, what matters is that I am giving it my best shot”.