Maïva Hamadouche (born 4 November 1989) is a French

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

and police officer who held the IBF female

super-featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title from 2016 to November 2021. At regional level, she held the French female lightweight title in 2014 and the European female lightweight title in 2015. As of September 2020, she is ranked as the world's best active female junior-lightweight by ''The Ring'' and second BoxRec.

Life and career

Hamadouche was born in

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...

, in the Tarn department. She was raised by a single mother in a family of 6 children.Mathieu Blard
Maiva Hamadouche, policière et boxeuse »">« Maiva Hamadouche, policière et boxeuse »
sur bondyblog.fr, 12 January 2016. With a ''baccalauréat economique et social'' she first planned to study law but abandoned this idea because of family and economic difficulties. Also interested in the army and more precisely in

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

, she was received in the contest of the National Active Non-Commissioned Officers School of Saint-Maixent. Not wishing to leave France to continue to devote herself to boxing, she finally decided, at age 19, to make a career in the police. So, in 2009, she joined the Rouen police academy.Marie Slavicek
Boxe : Maïva Hamadouche, policière à Paris, « poison » sur le ring »">« Boxe : Maïva Hamadouche, policière à Paris, « poison » sur le ring »
sur lemonde.fr, 21 January 2017. She worked for two years in

Asnières-sur-Seine Asnières-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies on the left bank of the river Seine, some eight kilometres from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of ...

then joined in 2014 the Compagnie de sécurisation et d'intervention of Paris. In March 2018 she received the bronze

honour medal for courage and devotion The Honour medal for courage and devotion (french: "Médaille d’honneur pour acte de courage et de dévouement") is a French decoration than can be bestowed to individuals and whole units. It is awarded for acts of courage during a rescue. Th ...

from the city of Paris for having rescued in June 2017 a young Mauritanian migrant, injured by a driver, by applying a tourniquet on his leg.

Sports career

After practicing football, she started to train

savate Savate (), also known as boxe française, savate boxing, French boxing or French footfighting, is a French kickboxing combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques. ...

at the age of 14, and also practiced boxing afterwards. She became a professional in 2013. She trained in Saint-Juéry at the beginning,A. L.
La championne du monde de boxe Maiva Hamadouche sur les traces de son enfance à Saint-Juéry (Tarn) »">« La championne du monde de boxe Maiva Hamadouche sur les traces de son enfance à Saint-Juéry (Tarn) »
sur france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 29 juillet 2017.Michel Frejabise
Maïva Hamadouche, championne du monde IBF »">« Maïva Hamadouche, championne du monde IBF »
sur ladepeche.fr, 14 November 2016. then in Clichy after moving to Paris, having Sot Mezaache as her coach. She is seven-time vice-champion of France in savate and English boxing, eventually opting for the second discipline despite her debut in French boxing. In March 2015, in Milan, she became European lightweight champion, while the title was vacant, beating t Italy's Anita Torti by throw of the towel in the 5th round then she retained his title in May in Clichy, winning on points in ten rounds against the same competitor.. In November 2016, Maïva Hamadouche won her first IBF World Super featherweight title,Marie Slavicek
Maïva Hamadouche : « Je veux marquer l’histoire de la boxe » »">« Maïva Hamadouche : « Je veux marquer l’histoire de la boxe » »
sur lemonde.fr, 18 May 2017. still vacant, winning by points in 10 rounds in Paris against the American Jennifer Salinas. She became the third Frenchwoman to win that title after

Myriam Lamare Myriam Lamare (born 1 January 1975, in Saint-Denis) is a French female boxer who won world titles in the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Federation (WBF), and International Boxing Federation (IBF). Biography Myriam Lamare was born ...

and Anne-Sophie Mathis. She retained the title in January 2017 against Milena Koleva, from Bulgaria, in May 2017 against

Anahí Ester Sánchez Anahí Ester Sánchez (born 21 July 1991) is an Argentine professional boxer. She is a three-weight world champion, having held the IBF female super-featherweight title in 2016; the WBA female lightweight title in 2017; and the WBA female su ...

, from Argentina, then in 2018 against the French Myriam Dellal. In 4 December 2018, Maïva Hamadouche kept her IBF world champion title, for the fifth time, against Brazil's

Viviane Obenauf Viviane Obenauf (born 25 October 1986) is a Brazilian former professional boxer who competed from 2014 to 2019. She has challenged three times for world titles; the IBO female lightweight title in 2017; the IBF female super featherweight title ...

. She has the nickname "El veneno" ("the poison" in Spanish). In 2016, her promoter was

Malamine Koné Malamine Koné (December 21, 1971 in Niéna, Mali) is a Malian and French entrepreneur. He is the founder of the sportswear brand Airness. Koné arrived in France at the age of 10 and was raised in the northern Paris Paris () is the capita ...

. Since September 2018 her promoter is

Brahim Asloum Brahim Asloum ( ar, إبراهيم اسلوم, born 31 January 1979 in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère) is a French boxer. He won the Light Flyweight Gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. His Olympic win was France's first Olympic gold medal in boxi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamadouche, Maïva Living people 1989 births French police officers French women boxers World super-featherweight boxing champions Sportspeople from Albi French savateurs Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for France 20th-century French women 21st-century French women