Boxing: Imane Khelif makes her professional debut, 'aim for the world belt'

Imane Khelif turns professional, and will make her debut in the Paris ring on December 15th with the aim of soon holding a world belt: the 27-year-old Algerian, Olympic champion at the 2024 Paris Games amid controversy due to her gender, hasn't fought for two years, and in a press conference today she announced her return to fighting thanks to a license from the French federation. Absent from the ring since the Paris Games, Khelif will play his first professional fight on December 15 in the French capital.

"It's been just over two years since the last time I fought and I really missed the ring. I live for this; I can't wait to start again, for myself and for my audience - said Khelif, accompanied in her announcement by coach Kamel Abdesselam and event organizer Yacin Berrabah - The last few times, after Paris 2024, have been rather complicated during this break. The time has come to turn professional: I will give my all."

Khelif will fight in the superwleter category (-69.8 kg) against Clarida Sarabia, an athlete registered in the Netherlands. She is a "high-level opponent, still undefeated with four victories, all by knockout; it's a real risk, but we have full faith in Imane", underlined Abdesselam, convinced that his boxer can win a world belt "very quickly": "three to five fights will be enough for her, she has the necessary potential".

After the gold in Paris and the controversy over his sexual gender, in June 2025 Khelif was unable to take part in the world tournament in Eindhoven due to the introduction, a week earlier, of a mandatory chromosomal test by the international World Boxing federation. Often accused of being a transgender athlete, the boxer was born a woman but naturally carries the SRY gene, considered a marker of masculinity. In February, in an interview with L'Équipe, she revealed that she had undergone hormone treatment to reduce her testosterone levels ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.