Olympic champion Imane Khelif has announced that she will make her professional boxing debut in Paris next month. The fight will be her first appearance in the ring since she won welterweight gold in the French capital at the 2024 Olympics.
Khelif told a news conference on Friday that she will face Clarida Sarabia in the super-welterweight division on December 15. She spoke alongside her coach, Kamel Abdesselam, and promoter Yacin Berrabah. Khelif holds a professional licence from France’s boxing federation, but she had to postpone her return in April after a training injury.
Khelif’s long wait to return to the ring
The 27-year-old, who was at the centre of a major gender row at the 2024 Olympics, said she had missed competing. “It’s been over two years since I last boxed, and I’ve really missed being in the ring,” she said.
She described the recent period as difficult and said it was time to turn professional. Khelif added that she intended to give the new step everything she had.
Coach’s world title prediction and gender questions
Abdesselam said Khelif could win a world title “within three to five fights” and compared her with Muhammad Ali. “We want to put Imane on top of the world,” he said.
Khelif has frequently been accused of being a transgender athlete. She was born female, but she naturally carries the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome, which indicates masculinity. In February, she told French sports daily L’Equipe that she had undergone hormonal treatment to lower her testosterone levels before the Paris Olympics.
