German boxer Julia Igel has said she is not afraid to face Olympic champion Imane Khelif, despite telling DW she considers the Algerian to be “male” amid questions over Khelif’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category.
“Someone that might have something to do with the male gender shouldn’t be in women’s boxing,” Igel said ahead of the fight in Paris on April 23. “You can’t say you’re a woman and you feel like a woman. Just the punching power and the danger that you face when you have a male in front of you, it is different.”
Khelif is not transgender and was assigned female at birth, but she has admitted to having the SRY gene, found on the Y chromosome and involved in developing male characteristics. Critics say this gives her an unfair and dangerous advantage over other women in the ring.
Igel, 25, however, stressed she is not intimidated. “I’m definitely not scared,” she told DW at her training camp in Berlin. “And that is the best part, because when my coach asked me if I wanted to do this fight, my last thought was fear. I know my skills, I know my abilities.”
Khelif is returning to Paris, the scene of her Olympic triumph and the biggest controversy of the 2024 Games. Her gold medal was clouded by accusations that she and another female boxer, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, had failed unspecified sex tests in the two years before the Olympics. The International Boxing Association (expelled by the IOC in 2023) alleged both had XY chromosomes and “male levels” of testosterone. Lin has since been “deemed to be female” by World Boxing, which now governs Olympic boxing.
While Igel uses the pronoun “she” for Khelif, her coach and manager Ikram Kerwat put it bluntly. “Ever since it came out that he has XY chromosomes, he has balls, he produces testosterone … yes, it’s a he,” Kerwat, a four-time world champion, said.
Kerwat recalled Angela Carini’s bout at the Paris Games, when the Italian abandoned her fight after 46 seconds, later saying she had never felt a punch like Khelif’s. “She saved herself,” Kerwat said. “He [Khelif] should go and compete with men.”
Kerwat says several female boxers turned down the chance to fight Khelif, who has not competed since the Olympics. Igel said she sees no contradiction between voicing safety concerns and taking the fight herself.
“I’m here for the challenge,” Igel said. “I think the special thing about this fight is the reach that it has, the people talking about it. This is really something that we will do to put out a statement to the world. So this one is definitely going to take us to new heights.”
World Boxing requires mandatory sex testing for its amateur events, but the French Boxing Federation granted Khelif a professional license without a test. In February, Khelif told French sports paper L’Equipe she has the SRY gene, described the difference as “natural,” said she had lowered her testosterone levels, and added that she had sent medical records to World Boxing but had not received a response.
“If she really is 100% female, then she can go fight in the women’s sport,” Igel said. “If not, then she should stop being so loud about it.”
DW has approached Khelif for comment via her promoter and PR company.
Igel has had seven professional bouts, winning five (four by knockout) and losing two, most recently on points to American Stephanie Simon in Los Angeles. A former kickboxer who turned to combat sports in Switzerland during her parents’ divorce, Igel has risen under Kerwat’s guidance after they met in a Berlin gym two years ago.
This will be the biggest fight of Igel’s career, and she believes Khelif will feel the pressure too. “It’s a lot of pressure on her, because the boxing world is not that happy to see her in pro boxing with the women,” Igel said. “So that’s just what we’re going to use, because I think we have the world on our side.”
Khelif had a training match against French boxer Davina Michel, who fights at a higher weight. Igel concedes she is giving up eight centimeters (3.15 inches) in height to Khelif but is confident.
“I’ve got it all,” she said. “I’ve got the skills, I’ve got the power, I’ve got the precision, and I have something inside of me that if I unlock it and set it free, then it doesn’t matter who’s in front of me.”
Edited by: Chuck Penfold