In June 2017, Mary Kom is beaten in the quarterfinal of an invitational competition in Mongolia. It's a comeback tournament for her. She has taken a year's break after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Her return isn't an immediate success. This didn't mean she was out of the limelight in Ulan Bataar. "Every day there were so many parents coming up to her along with their children. They all knew just how great a boxer Mary was. So they all wanted Mary to bless their children," recalls India coach Chote Lal Yadav.
There are no children at the Indira Gandhi stadium on Saturday though. And this time Mary isn't boxing in some obscure tournament. She is competing for a place in history, to become the only woman to win six gold medals at the boxing world championships.
Mary's reputation is intact. Ahead of her final bout against Ukraine's Hanna Okhota, she is greeted by a member of the Filipino boxing contingent. "One of them said 'we are praying for your win,'" recalls coach Yadav.
The prayers do what they're supposed to do. Mary beats Okhota by a unanimous points decision. The stands sing the Indian's name. In the ring, Mary Kom bursts into tears. When she returns to the training area, she's greeted by other teams. The Mongolians ask her to pose for a picture. The normally poker-faced North Koreans gather around the Indian and crack rare grins for a picture of their own too.
Mary Kom would smile through immense pain. She's suffered abdominal cramps overnight. She shows none of it though. It's just another obstacle to be overcome. Indeed she's boxed so well that there's another prize to be had: the best boxer of the competition. 17 years after she first competed at a World Championships - the inaugural one, Mary Kom is officially the best boxer at the competition.
"Just beautiful boxing," says Bulgaria's Stoyka Petrova, who won silver in the 54kg division. The 33-year-old has seen Mary Kom from up close over the past decade. She's been her rival at times too but appreciates greatness where she sees it. "It's one of the reasons I like to be friends with her," she says. That silver in New Delhi will be the last of the Bulgarian's decade-long career. She understands however that it won't be Mary Kom's last. "I think for Mary her whole life is about boxing. That's why she won't quit," she says.
"I'll stop if someone beats me," Mary would joke later. She's confident of her place in the pantheon of the greats, if not at the very top of the pyramid. You'd have a bit of ego too. She speaks of overtaking Ireland's Katie Taylor who had five world titles. "That Ireland girl never won her titles continuously. I did," she says.
The only time Mary Kom stopped winning at the World Championships -- an eight-year winless streak beginning in 2010 -- was when she had to move up a weight division ahead of the 2012 Olympics when her preferred weight category didn't feature. "If it wasn't for that, I would have won so much more," she says. This isn't just idle boasting.
Now that she's returned to her natural weight division, her invincibility is there for all to see. Her opponents simply haven't had a chance. "They might be younger and sharper. But I am mentally more strong. Because of this I find these new boxers too easy. They are so young. They are easy," she says.
Easy for her that is. "Mary isn't winning because she is more experienced. There are a lot of boxers who have as much experience as her. But she is the only six-time world champion. This is because of her talent. If this was football, Mary Kom would be Maradona," says Indian chief coach Rafael Bergamasco.
"I'll stop if someone beats me" Mary Kom
She is at once inspirational as well as demoralising for the rest of the Indian contingent. They might have had their best ever return from a world championships since 2008, yet it's impossible to match up to Mary Kom.
She understands as much. "Winning a medal isn't easy. It's very tough. They (the rest of the Indian team) are trying their best. It will take time. It isn't that if your will is strong or that you have experience that you can suddenly become like me. There are very few people like me," she says.
Coach Bergamasco would vouch for that. "There's no real competition for Mary. The only real opponent for Mary is Mary," he says. Surely others will step up even if she wants to take another shot at the only gold that has eluded her - the Olympic one. "Four years ago I was not able to qualify for Rio. I'm still suffering for that," she says.
It's not hard to assume she would. Among her recent scalps is Zhaina Shekerbekova, who returned with a silver in the 51kg category on Saturday. Even if she doesn't, and it certainly feels greedy to expect that she should, her legacy is secure. Mary knows this too. "No one like me will be born very soon. Everyone wants to make a player like me but that's not possible no?"