France’s Estelle Mossely, right, slugging it out with Thailand’s Porntip Buapa in the 60 kg category of the IBA women’s World Boxing Championships 2023, at K. D. Jadhav Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in New Delhi on Friday, March 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Having made a fine comeback in an elite amateur event after seven years by winning her first bout in the World women’s boxing championships here, the 2016 World and Olympic champion Estelle Mossely is now focussing on next year’s Paris Olympics.
The 30-year-old Frenchwoman, who returned from professional boxing, was relieved after getting past Thailand’s Prontip Buapa in a 60kg opening round bout. “The first bout is always hard. You have to be focused. You wait a long time before it. I did everything I wanted to do in this fight. Now it will be better in every fight,” Estelle told The Hindu.
“It has been a long time (since I competed in a World championship), but I am happy to take part in this competition. It’s a big moment for me because it is the beginning of the preparation for the Olympic Games. It’s a good start for me. Before the competition, I said every fight will be like a final for me. I refocus every time in each fight.”
Lots of camps
Giving an idea about the French team’s home Olympics, Estelle said, “For me, I have my team. Sometimes I train with the French team. We will have a lot of training camps. We will move to a maximum number of countries (to train there) because the style is very different in every country and every continent.
“But now we focus on this competition because this is the best event before the Olympic Games qualification. This is the first step. The next step will be qualification. Between this competition and the next one, we will have a lot of preparation and sparring.”
Estelle said she was delighted to see Indian world champions M.C. Mary Kom and Nikhat Zareen, the two flag-bearers of women’s boxing from the host nation.
