-
Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
Former IBF junior lightweight champion Maiva Hamadouche, ESPN’s No. 2 junior lightweight, announced her retirement Wednesday in an Instagram post.
Hamadouche, 33, wrote in French that she is ending her career due to an eye injury that will no longer allow her to fight.
She held the IBF junior lightweight title from 2016, when she defeated Jennifer Salinas by unanimous decision, until her final fight, on Nov. 5, 2021, when she lost a unanimous decision to then-WBO junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer in a unification bout.
In the past six months, Hamadouche had posted on social media about trying to get a rematch against Mayer.
Hamadouche finishes her career with a 22-2 record, which includes 18 knockouts.
Hamadouche also represented France in the 2020 Olympics — while being a professional boxer — but lost her first match in the lightweight tournament to Mika Potkonen.