After trying her hand at kickboxing, disarming bombs for the French army, becoming a police officer, fulfilling her Olympic dream and winning a boxing championship, only a few things remained in IBF 130-pound titlist Maiva Hamadouche’s bucket list.

One of them will become a reality on Friday, Nov. 5. at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in a Top Rank card televised by ESPN.

“Fighting in Las Vegas is a good event for me. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, I am training hard for this moment, and I am ready for this moment,” said Hamadouche through a translator in a phone conference from Las Vegas, where she will fulfill every fighter’s dream of putting it all on the line for all the marbles on the biggest boxing stage in the world in a fight against WBO junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer that will also have the inaugural Ring magazine belt in that division. “I will be very happy to be here outside of Europe.”

Europe is where her entire career as a fighter has taken place, but recently she took a first step outside of the old continent to try her hand at a different discipline, and the results weren’t as expected.

“The Olympics for me was a bonus,” said Hamadouche, when asked about her failed attempt to reach Olympic glory in Tokyo 2021, where she lost in her first fight in a controversial split decision against Finland’s Mira Potkonen. “I was very happy to make them. And it was a good adventure, it didn’t affect my confidence. I have complete confidence in myself for this coming fight. I left that behind me, and I can’t wait for the fight to happen.”

Hamadouche reinserted herself in amateur-style boxing competition for about three years before embarking on her journey to Tokyo, and she has been a professional prizefighter since 2013, grabbing the IBF belt in 2016 in a vacant title fight and accumulating six defenses before bringing her act stateside. It is difficult to think that she does not feel anxious about the possibility of losing her title to a woman like Mayer (15-0, 5 KOs) who was just making her professional debut when Hamadouche was already a champion.

Add the fact that the taller and rangier Mayer, 31, is considered one of women’s boxing finest pound-for-pound fighters and will be fighting in home turf, and Hamadouche, 32, should have more than enough reasons to worry.

Not a chance.

Mikaela Mayer (L) and Maiva Hamadouche (R) face-off during the press conference prior to their Ring magazine/WBO/IBF junior lightweight title fight at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on November 03, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.(Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

“The fight against Mayer will be a big fight. For my strategy, you will have to wait until Friday night to see that, but her height will not be a problem for me. On the contrary, it suits me,” said Hamadouche. “This is an exciting opportunity for me. I have defended the title on multiple occasions and now this is a great opportunity to unify world titles. My training camp was perfect, and I am very excited about the fight.”

Hidden in the pre-fight analysis is the fact that Hamadouche’s signature brawling and mauling style has made her one of the most feared women in her division, where she was declared the No. 1 fighter in the world when The Ring’s ratings were first created back in 2020. After two years of only two fights due to the pandemic-induced inactivity in Europe, coupled with her failed Olympic bid, she has slipped to No. 3 behind Mayer and Britain’s Terri Harper on No. 2.

Her style did cause a few problems earlier on, but as her career advanced, it became easier to find fighters risking it all to face her.

“At the start of my professional career, it was difficult to find good opponents, because I already had a good level, and finding opponents to face me when I already had a good reputation was quite difficult,” said Hamadouche. “Now, at the highest level, what is good is that I fight in a very rich category with many good boxers.”

Going from being forced to search low and high for willing opponents to being challenged by the best fighters in the world has given Hamadouche the confidence that any other fighter may not have after such a tough couple of years. Add to that the historic occasion of having the inaugural Ring belt on the line, and you have all the motivation that she needs for this challenge.

“I am going to fight for the Ring belt, I am very happy because it is an important belt for me, it’s a good recognition and I would do anything to win it,” said Hamadouche. “I believe my experience will be the difference. I’m very aggressive and very physical. I will come at her like no other fighter has come at her before.”

Quotes from a Top Rank press release were also used in this article