Maïva Hamadouche

Hamadouche was born in Albi, in the Tarn department. She was raised by a single mother in a family of 6 children.[4] With a baccalauréat economique et social she first planned to study law but abandoned this idea because of family and economic difficulties.[4] Also interested in the army and more precisely in demining, she was received in the contest of the National Active Non-Commissioned Officers School of Saint-Maixent.[4] 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.[4] So, in 2009, she joined the Rouen police academy.[5]

She worked for two years in Asnières-sur-Seine then joined in 2014 the Compagnie de sécurisation et d'intervention of Paris.[5] 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.[6]

After practicing football, she started to train savate at the age of 14, and also practiced boxing afterwards.[4][5] She became a professional in 2013.[4] She trained in Saint-Juéry at the beginning,[7][8] then in Clichy after moving to Paris, having Sot Mezaache as her coach.[4]

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.[5]

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[9] then she retained his title in May in Clichy, winning on points in ten rounds against the same competitor.[10]

In November 2016, Maïva Hamadouche won her first IBF World Super featherweight title,[11] still vacant, winning by points in 10 rounds in Paris against the American Jennifer Salinas.[8] She became the third Frenchwoman to win that title after Myriam Lamare and Anne-Sophie Mathis.[11] She retained the title in January 2017 against Milena Koleva, from Bulgaria,[11] in May 2017 against Anahí Ester Sánchez, from Argentina,[11] then in 2018 against the French Myriam Dellal.[12] In 4 December 2018, Maïva Hamadouche kept her IBF world champion title, for the fifth time, against Brazil's Viviane Obenauf.[13]

She has the nickname "El veneno" ("the poison" in Spanish).[11] In 2016, her promoter was Malamine Koné.[8] Since September 2018 her promoter is Brahim Asloum[14]

• Boxing record for Maïva Hamadouche from BoxRec (registration required)