Estelle Mossely is back in the boxing rings this Friday night in Dubai where she will defend her IBO lightweight belt. The French then hopes to have the opportunity to face Katie Taylor in 2023 before competing in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Opposed to the Argentinian Yanina del Carmen Lescana, the world champion will be featured in an international meeting organized by Probellum, her new promoter since the beginning of the year. The opportunity for the 2016 Olympic gold medalist to fight abroad and begin to take on a global dimension.
A year later, you find the ring and the fights, you must be eager to be there?
It will feel good to get back in the rings and have a fight. I’ve been training for a while (since September). I want to see the evolution and the results of my work. It will do a lot of good to box, I can’t wait. I really feel ready.
How did you organize your preparation?
I started the preparation with the idea of fighting in December. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We were able to work on all aspects. We did groundwork. And we accentuated. The preparation was complete. I have never been so prepared for a fight. I knew I was going to box but I didn’t know when. There was no question of wasting too much time. I’ve lost quite a bit since last March. And since I had made the decision to commit to Paris 2024, it allowed us to work on all aspects.
With Yanina del Carmen Lescana, world n°4, you have a great opponent…
It was important for me because I have goals behind. I lost a year where I could have climbed the rankings. I feel that I have a solid team. I didn’t see why I wasn’t going to take a quality opponent for this comeback.
The objective then is to go up and target the Irish Katie Taylor (current holder of the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC lightweight titles)?
It’s exactly that. That’s why it was important to restart strongly. There is a double objective behind: Katie Taylor and the Paris Olympics. I would like to do this opposition with Katie Taylor within a year before completely switching to the Olympic scheme for the Paris Games. We are starting things off well. I hope it will go well on Friday and then try to hit harder afterwards. And start to position themselves in countries where boxing is present such as England or the United States to bring about this unification of belts.
Showing that women also know how to do good boxing is a satisfaction
This is also the problem for French boxers. You have to go into exile to face the best…
This is very often the problem. It is important that I make myself known internationally. I fought a lot in France but it’s time to show off. There are countries that are much more knowledgeable. It is important to export. It’s part of the game. I did quite a bit and I really enjoyed it. It’s time for me to take risks and fight some fights overseas.
There are titles and belts but is invincibility also an important thing for you?
Yes completely. It’s part of the game. Unbeaten records are goals. I want to stay undefeated the longest and until the end of my career. It’s up to us to do things well to avoid having a defeat.
You also want to be a “beautiful boxer”…
It’s true that boxing for boxing’s sake is one thing. But I like to win with style. There are so many possibilities in this sport to make good fights, to master the technique, the diversity of the exchanges, the movements… This is what interests me in this sport when I train. For me the satisfaction is to win but above all to put into practice what I learned in training and to show that women also know how to do good boxing.
It’s also something that drives you, being a role model for women. How do you transcribe it in the ring?
By being as qualitative as possible in my work. The fact of working on different aspects is what will make it possible to show that boxing is about putting punches but also practicing good boxing. It’s true that we have a lot of surly sportswomen, it’s a bit of a difference with the boys. Limit, the girls are not afraid to take blows. I can’t bear to take it at all! But this fear of taking hits is very important to allow us to put in place the “touch without being touched”. The technique, the rigour, the quality of the performance in the ring which means that I can, in a way, set an example of what female boxers are capable of doing in this difficult sport.
The fight will be broadcast live on Eurosport 2 on Friday from 5 p.m.
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