Amid reports of her retirement making a buzz, Indian boxing champion MC Mary Kom on Thursday refuted all claims and clarified that she has not hung up her gloves yet.

The legendary boxer stated that she still has the hunger to compete and achieve big things. She further said that she was ‘misquoted’ and that she would personally come in front of the media whenever she wants to announce it.

In a statement issued today, Mary Kom said, “I haven’t announced retirement yet and I have been misquoted. I will personally come in front of media whenever I want to announce it. I have gone through some media reports stating that I have announced retirement and this is not true.”

Further elaborating on what led to the misunderstanding, she said, “I was attending a school event in Dibrugarh on 24 January 2024 wherein I was motivating children and I said “I still have hunger of achieving in sports but the age limit in Olympics doesn’t allow me to participate though I can carry on with my sport.” I am still focusing on my fitness and whenever I will announce retirement I will inform everyone."

Mary Kom is a female boxer from northeastern state Manipur who is the first to win six world titles and the first Indian woman to earn a gold medal in boxing at the 2014 Asian Games.  

The six-time world champion, last won a medal at the highest level - a silver at the Asian Championships in 2021. Mary has won as many as 8 world championship medals, and 7 Asian championship medals, 2 Asian Games medals, and a Commonwealth Games gold medal.