I almost gave up boxing once: Mary Kom

She may be the first Indian woman to have become the world champion five times in a row, but boxer Mary Kom says there was a time she had decided to give it all up. "I really wanted to hang up my gloves forever," she says.

She may be the first Indian woman to have become the world champion five times in a row, but boxer Mary Kom says there was a time she had decided to give it all up. “I had decided to give up my career out of frustration when my father-in-law got killed by militants in 2006. I blamed my success for his death.
But my husband and family supported me,” says Kom.

“Later, I couldn’t spend time with my family. I had to either be in a training camp or travel for events. My twins were just one year old and I missed them a lot. In those moments, I really wanted to hang up my gloves forever. But here I am, still boxing,” adds the 30-year-old, who recently released her biography.

She has also inspired a biopic, starring actor-singer Priyanka Chopra. Kom, who is known to have a melodious voice, was rumoured to have performed a duet with Priyanka when they met recently, but she says it’s not true. “We didn’t sing any duet. Maybe we’ll do that sometime later .... I used to like singing and I’d have taken up a singing profession if I were not a boxer.”