The defeat of Mary Kom at the hands of Nicole Adams of Great Britain in the semi-final of the 51-kg category at the London Olympics has certainly been a shocker for boxing fans in the country. But for the boxing fraternity, more painful was the approach Mary Kom adopted against the pugilist from Britain. The essence of the criticism is that Mary was too defensive and that allowed her opponent to reign over her.
“Mary Kom on Wednesday was quite unlike the Mary that we used to see. She had to move from her favourite 46, 48 kg categories to 51 kg as it was the minimum weight category allowed in the Olympics. That change in the event cost her an Olympics gold. Compounding to that, she was in a defensive mood and her opponent could easily land punches on her,” said Chandra Lal, a former national boxing coach, now with the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Mary Kom lost her semi-final bout to Nicole Adams 11-6. As the score shows, the duel was almost one-sided, with the Briton, taking full advantage of her height and host status, pounded Mary Kom from the word go. The first round gave Nicole a decisive two-point lead (3-1) which she maintained and increased steadily.
Chandra Lal told Express that the tactics adopted by Mary were confusing from the start itself. Known for her stinging punches and playful foot movements, Mary on Wednesday was found wanting for space and lethality in her moves. She remained docile from the beginning. Nicole evaded Mary Kom’s fists and skilfully boxed from a safe range.
Her extra height gave her a noticeable advantage over Mary Kom, who relied on her defensive skills to stay in the bout. Sensing the opportunity, Nicole rained punches on Mary. Raising the two-point lead in the first round to four in the third round and five in the fourth round, Nicole took the match away from Mary with ease, Lal added.
”To be honest, it was a one-sided match. To win, you need to hit. You can defend for a round or two, especially after scoring some quick points. But it is senseless to remain submissive in all the four rounds. At least she could have shifted gears to reduce the lead of Nicole,” said Lal, who has trained Mary in various national camps.
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