Nikhat Zareen: I respect Mary Kom, nobody to hate her

The 24-year-old has been spending time on her skills at home during the lockdown and has set her sights on gaining glory in 2022.

Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen cleared the air between her and Mary Kom considering no qualms about the ace boxer's credentials and wishes to see her do well in the upcoming Olympics.

The 51-kg counterpart to Mary Kom from Nizamabad, Zareen and Mary Kom's reported spat occurred in 2019 when Zareen demanded a fair trial for boxers to be selected for the Indian team for the Olympics after Mary Kom was given a clean run to selection without any combat. She proved to be likewise inside the ring as well, winning 9-1 in her bout with Zareen and not breaking a sweat in the process.

Despite the situation that occurred, Zareen has since moved on and put the incident behind her. She replied "I have no rivalry with Mary Kom. Boxing is a game, where you remove all of your anger within the ring. Once the bout is over and you step down from the ring, you are friends. I believe in that. Whatever was there between us, it was all finished in the ring."

"I am nobody to hate her. I respect her, she is my idol. Whenever I see her, I get motivated because, despite her age, she has that hunger to win Olympic gold. I don’t have any grudges or hate. I really want her to secure the gold medal at the forthcoming Olympics and I wish her all the best," told Zareen to Hindustan Times, putting ice on the situation.

Zareen has instead focused on preparing herself for competitions in the future including the Olympics next year and the Commonwealth Games the following year. Zareen has reportedly worked on her fitness and sharpness ahead of the big bouts lined up for her.

She said, "I came home to relax, but then the lockdown started and our training camp was never set after that. And when we start training in a camp in the coming months or next year, when it is set up, you won’t have that level of fitness because we are training at home now. It will take time for adapting to that level of peak fitness. That is why my plan that whole 2021 I will train well and participate in some events and target the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2022.”

The boxer will be looking to add glory to India in the 51-kg category where Mary Kom has won plenty of laurels for the nation and look to emulate the feats of her predecessor and idol to take boxing in India to newer heights.

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