Imane Khelif to make pro boxing debut in Paris on 15 December against Clarida Sarabia

The debut

Imane Khelif will make her professional boxing debut in Paris on 15 December, fighting Clarida Sarabia in the super-welterweight division (-69.8 kg). The 27-year-old Algerian announced the bout at a news conference on 6 November, alongside her coach Kamel Abdesselam and promoter Yacin Berrabah. It will be her first fight since she won Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games, more than two years earlier. She holds a professional licence issued through the French boxing federation. A planned return in April did not go ahead because of a shoulder injury, according to NOS.

The opponent

Sarabia is 21 years old, according to NOS, and is registered in the Netherlands, according to ANSA, while fighting under the flag of the Dominican Republic. She has won her four previous professional bouts, all by knockout, and remains unbeaten. Abdesselam described her as a high-level opponent and said the fight carries real risk. He nevertheless said he was confident Khelif could win a world title within three to five fights, and he compared her with Muhammad Ali.

“We want to put Imane on top of the world.”

Khelif on her return

Speaking at the news conference, Khelif said she had missed competing badly enough to return. She pointed to the time since her last bout as the reason the layoff felt so long.

“It's been over two years since I last boxed, and I've really missed being in the ring.”

She described the years since Paris as hard going and said the moment had come to turn professional.

“The last couple of years have been quite difficult. The time has come to turn professional, and I'm going to give it my all.”

Gender controversy and testing

The bout returns Khelif to the city where her 2024 win sparked a row over her gender. She is frequently accused of being a transgender athlete, but she was born female and naturally carries the SRY gene, which is considered an indicator of masculinity. In June 2025 she could not take part in the world championships in Eindhoven, a week after World Boxing introduced a mandatory chromosome test. In February she told L'Équipe that she had undergone hormonal treatment to lower her testosterone before the 2024 Olympics.

Asked whether she would seek to defend her Olympic title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, she did not go into detail. She pointed instead to a complaint she has filed with World Boxing over the gender tests.

What comes next

The 15 December fight will be Khelif's first in the professional ranks, and the plan Abdesselam outlined depends on a short run of bouts after it. The sources name no further fights beyond the Sarabia bout. Her eligibility for Los Angeles remains unresolved in the reporting, and she has not said whether she will compete there. For now, the 15 December date in Paris is the only fixed point in her professional calendar.