One of the earliest known women’s boxing matches to have been advertised in print was in London between Elizabeth Wilkinson and Hannah Hyfield in 1722. Billing herself as the “European Championess”, Wilkinson and her husband would also fight other mixed couples as a pair, with Wilkinson fighting the other woman, and her husband fighting the other man. In those days, the rules of boxing allowed kicking, gouging and other methods of attack not part of today’s arsenal. Women’s boxing was introduced in India in the early 2000s, with the formation of the Indian Women’s Boxing Federation (IWBF). The first national women’s boxing championship was held in 2001.  India hosted the first women’s boxing world championships in New Delhi, where they won four gold medals, one silver, and three bronze. Mary Kom led the team with a gold in the 46kg category.

 

MC Mary Kom, a trailblazing boxer from Manipur, won her first world championship title in 2002.She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer (male or female) to win eight World Championship medals. Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she was the only Indian female boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she competed in the flyweight (51 kg) category and won a bronze medal. She had also been ranked as the world’s No. 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA). She became the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She is also the only boxer to become Asian Amateur Boxing Champion for a record six times. Mary Kom won the 51kg gold in President’s Cup in Indonesia. Mary Kom became the most successful boxer at world championships in 2019. At the function, the then Chief Minister of Manipur also declared that the stretch of road leading to the National Games village in Imphal West district, where Kom currently resides, would be named as MC Mary Kom Road. She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award, in 2020. In May 2021, Mary Kom won her 7th medal at the Asian Championships but lost the women’s 51kg final on Sunday to Nazym Kazaibay. Kom won her first medal at the tournament in 2003. Kom appeared on the final episode of the Super Fight League’s mixed martial arts reality show – SFL Challengers. During this time Kom was in talks with owners Raj Kundra and Sanjay Dutt to work with the SFL in some manner other than being a fighter. On 24 September 2012, the Super Fight League announced that Kom will serve as the SFL’s brand ambassador. Three Indian female boxers, namely, Pinki Jangra, Mary Kom, and Kavita Chahal were placed in the world’s top three in AIBA world rankings (1 March 2014) in their respective categories

The Rise of Giant Killer, Pinki Jangra

 

Pinki Rani Jangra is a flyweight Indian boxer from Hisar, Haryana and a four time national champion. She won bronze medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.She won gold medal at the President’s Cup International Boxing in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, in 2015.She won gold medals at the 2011 National Games of India and the 2012 and 2014 National championships in the flyweight (51kgs) division.She was the only Indian pugilist who bagged the gold medal at the Arafura Games. She signed up with Sporty Boxing Private Limited, which is referred to as the commercial arm of the Indian Boxing Council (IBC), the licensing body for professional boxers in India.

Pinki is known as Giant Killer due to her achievements in domestic competitions. She has defeated London Olympic Games bronze medalist and six-time world champion Mary Kom in National Boxing Championship 2009 and CWG 2014 qualification trial, as well as five-time Asian champion and world champion Laishram Sarita Devi in National Games and National Boxing Championship 2011. Pinki represented India in Boxing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in 51kgs weight category. However, she lost to England’s Lisa Whiteside in her quarterfinal bout.