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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

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 November 2016 to November 2021. At regional level, she held the French female lightweight title in 2014 and the European female lightweight title in 2015.

Life and career

Hamadouche was born in

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, 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 Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

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 Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the left bank of the river Seine, some eight kilometr ...

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 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 French Boxing (French language, French: ''Boxe Française'') or French Foot Fighting, is a French hybrid martial art and full-contact combat sport that combines principles of boxing, western boxing with a wide variety ...

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 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 and Anne-Sophie Mathis. She retained the title in January 2017 against Milena Koleva, from Bulgaria, in May 2017 against Anahí Ester Sánchez, 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. Taking advantage of a rule change which allowed professional boxers to compete in the Olympics, Hamadouche qualified for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games only to lose in her opening contest to Finland's Mira Potkonen. On 5 November 2021, she returned to professional competition to take on WBO female super-featherweight World champion Mikaela Mayer in a contest that saw both women's titles and the inaugural

Ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

female super-featherweight belt on the line. Mayer prevailed by unanimous decision. Hamadouche announced her retirement from boxing in May 2023 due to an eye injury that would no longer allow her to fight.

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 sportswomen