A Return to the City Where She Won Gold
Imane Khelif will step back into a boxing ring on December 15 in Paris, the city where she claimed welterweight gold at the 2024 Olympics. The 27-year-old Algerian is scheduled to meet Clarida Sarabia, a 21-year-old Dutch fighter who is unbeaten in four professional contests, in a six-round bout. The match was presented to reporters at a Paris press conference on Friday.[S1][S3]
The fight represents Khelif's professional debut and her first appearance in competition since the Paris Games. She had been due to face Julia Igel in April but pulled out because of an injury sustained in training. According to France 24, she holds a professional licence issued by France's boxing federation.[S1][S2][S3]
Two Years Away From Competition
Speaking at the announcement, Khelif described the gap since her last bout as more than two years and said she had missed the ring badly. She called the recent period difficult and said the moment to turn professional had arrived, promising to give the move everything she has. In a promotional video, she recalled weeks stretching into months of waiting and doubt while insisting her determination never faded.[S2][S3][S1]
Her coach Kamel Abdesselam, who works with Khelif alongside Nasser Lalaoui, expects a fast rise. He argued that a world title could come within three to five fights and likened his boxer to Muhammad Ali, saying the aim is to place her at the summit of the sport. Promoter Yacin Berrabah appeared alongside Khelif and Abdesselam at the press conference.[S3]
The Eligibility Dispute That Follows Her
Khelif's Olympic triumph was surrounded by controversy over whether she should have been allowed to compete. The International Boxing Association had disqualified her from the 2023 World Championships after sex chromosome testing, and the IBA has itself been removed from the Olympic movement over governance concerns. Khelif, who is not transgender, has consistently maintained that she had every right to box in Paris.[S1][S2]
France 24 reports that Khelif was born female and naturally carries the SRY gene, which sits on the Y chromosome and is associated with masculinity. In February she told the French sports daily L'Equipe that she had undergone hormonal treatment to reduce her testosterone before the Paris Games. World Boxing, provisionally recognised by the International Olympic Committee and due to run the boxing competition at Los Angeles 2028, introduced mandatory sex testing for its events last year.[S3][S1]
An Uncertain Path Toward Los Angeles
Whether Khelif would try to defend her Olympic crown in 2028 remains unresolved. She told reporters she could not answer because she has lodged complaints against World Boxing over its gender tests, while indicating in February that she would accept genetic testing if the IOC were the body administering it. Her coach Abdesselam, by contrast, stated flatly that she has no interest in competing at the Games again because she is already an Olympic champion.[S1][S2]
