Barely had she kept her IBO belt (International Boxing Organization, an international boxing federation), lightweight (− 61.237 kilos) that Estelle Mossely was already seeing further. "I want to go for a WBC Silver international title [the equivalent of an interim title] against the Mexican Magali Rodriguez", she declared, in February, after her victory on points over the Malawian Anisha Basheel. Two months later, the Frenchwoman has the opportunity to see her wish granted: Friday, April 28, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, she faces her rival, holder of this Silver belt in the super-lightweight category (− 63,500 kilos).
For Zakaria Attou, a former boxer now a consultant for BeIN Sports, this World Boxing Council (WBC) title is above all "symbolic". "It's kind of a semi-final," he said. It offers the opportunity for the winner to fight for the unified title of world champion in the future. »
Magali Rodriguez, 30, has to date twenty-two wins - including nine before the limit -, three draws and six defeats. "She's a tough and skilled opponent, it's going to be an interesting fight," Zakaria Attou said. Especially since Estelle Mossely, also 30 years old, still undefeated in eleven professional duels, will line up for the first time in super-lightweight. "When we go to the next category, it's either because we've gained power and muscle mass and we want to avoid excessive diets, or, quite simply, we no longer has the corresponding weight", sums up the 2017 European super-welterweight champion (−69.853 kilos).
A return to amateurs for the Olympics
Zakaria Attou also sees another challenge for the Francilienne in this Friday's fight: to make the transition between the amateur and professional worlds. Crowned Olympic lightweight champion (−60 kg) in Rio, in 2016, against the Chinese Yin Junhua – becoming the first and, until today, the only French boxer to win an Olympic gold medal – Estelle Mossely aims another gold medal at the 2024 Games in Paris.
“I don't think I would have tried to do them again if they hadn't taken place in Paris, confided the person concerned, at the beginning of February, to the Parisian. It changed everything, of course. Since 2018, Estelle Mossely has been boxing among professionals, when the Olympic version of this sport is an amateur. However, argues Zakaria Attou, who also played on both circuits, "it's not easy to come back to the amateurs when you boxed with the professionals". The rules and conditions of the fights differ: wearing a helmet is compulsory for women, the clashes are played in three rounds instead of ten, the gloves are bigger and the bandages less hard. "It's almost two different sports," he sums up.
Despite an early elimination in the round of 16 - 60 kg of the World Amateurs, at the end of March, the boxer started her race for Olympic qualification well. At the beginning of February, she won a pre-selection tournament against her compatriot Rima Ayadi, obtaining her ticket for the European Games in Poland (June 21-July 2), the first official qualifying event at the Games.
"It's up to us boxers to get things done"
Two weeks later, Estelle Mossely retained, for the fourth consecutive year, her IBO belt, at the Salle Wagram, in Paris. An evening that the athlete had organized herself, with her company Double Y Boxing. “It was a double stake, since I was the promoter. And I left on a double project with the Olympic Games. Believe me, we'll snatch that gold medal! “, she then launched to the public.
This fight for the defense of her title, initially scheduled for the end of 2022 in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but canceled at the last minute due to a lack of sufficient budget on the part of the local organizers, had pushed her to obtain her promoter's license. This allows her to organize her meetings herself and take control of her career... but not only that.
"It's also something that will certainly be significant for my post-career as a boxer", confided, on the sidelines of the fight, the one who is also a mother of two children. With the desire to move the lines: "We have a lot of promoters who are a little too business-oriented. I want to be turned towards the boxers and I have the feeling that it is up to us, boxers, to move things forward. »
