Imane Khelif to make ring return in Paris on December 15

Algeria's Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is scheduled to return to the ring on December 15 at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris. “I've waited, I've doubted, but deep inside, the fire never dies,” Khelif said on Instagram in a promotional video. “And, now, I'm back.”

Khelif won the Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games and will make this comeback two years after clinching that title amid international scrutiny. She was in the spotlight alongside Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting as both boxers faced intense scrutiny fueled by misconceptions about their sex. Both fighters had been disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, which said the women failed unspecified eligibility tests. The IOC applied sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics and said Khelif and Lin passed.

Promoters said this week that her December 15 professional fight at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris will be against undefeated fighter Clarida Sarabia. Khelif had been scheduled to fight in April before that bout was postponed after she injured her left shoulder while training. The postponement delayed her planned return until the December date announced by promoters.

World Boxing took over as the sport's governing body last year and implemented a sex eligibility policy requiring all fighters to take a one-time genetic test designed to identify the presence of a Y chromosome. Khelif has not competed in World Boxing-sanctioned events since the implementation of the test. The policy change followed the disputes and eligibility debates that affected several athletes.

A file picture of gold medalist Algeria's Imane Khelif accompanied the report, credited to AP. Her next confirmed bout is the December 15 professional fight at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris against Clarida Sarabia.