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It was never an easy road to
success in the ring for former
two-time WBF World Champion
Nadya Hokmi
from France. Born on July 15,
1977 she faced plenty of
set-backs and disappointments
before finally reaching the top.
Hokmi made her professional
boxing debut at eighteen, losing
a decision to Silke Weickenmeier
(0-1-1) in Germany. Weickenmeier
would go on to win multiple
world championships herself, so
in hindsight there is no shame
in that defeat.
But it did appear to discourage
Hokmi to a degree, as it would
be over eight years before she
returned to the ring. On May 15,
2004, in Schiltigheim, France,
she out-pointed Valerie
Rangheard (0-8) and started a
winning-streak of five bouts in
one year.
But in December of 2005, in only
her seventh outing, she was
thrown in at the deep end to
challenge WIBF and GBU World
Bantamweight Champion Bettina
Csabi (25-0) in Hungary. Csabi
had won more title bouts than
Hokmi had had fights, so on
paper it was quite the mismatch.
However, Hokmi did well against
Csabi, but lost a technical
decision when the defending
champion suffered a cut over her
left eye. A rematch was arranged
for four months later, and this
time Csabi won a unanimous
decision after the full ten
rounds.
Her record dipped to a mediocre
5-3, but the two encounters with
Csabi proved that Hokmi could
compete at world level very
early in her career. And she had
no intentions of taking a step
back, so after three low-profile
victories in Germany she
accepted another huge challenge.
On October 14, 2006 in front of
20.000 spectators at the
national football stadium,
Parken, in Copenhagen, Denmark,
Hokmi lost a close decision to
Anita Christensen (18-0) with
the vacant WBA, WBC and GBU
world titles on the line.
It was another impressive and
admirable performance, but not
enough to get her hands raised
in victory.
Three months later Hokmi
traveled to Italy to fight
Simona Galassi (2-0) for the
vacant European Flyweight title,
and finally it looked as if she
would be rewarded for her
willingness to fight anyone
anywhere. Most observers saw
Hokmi as a clear winner of the
fight, but unfortunately two of
the judges didn't.
One judge scored the fight 96-93
for Hokmi, one judge had it
95-95 and the third outrageously
scored it 97-92 for Galassi,
resulting in a split draw and
pure heartbreak for Hokmi, who
fled the ring in disgust when
the result was announced.
Returning to Germany, she also
returned to winning ways by
stopping undefeated prospect Pia
Mazelanik (3-0) in two rounds
the following March. Two
impressive performances in a
row, despite not getting the win
over Galassi, lined up a fourth
world title-shot for Hokmi.
But again she was left
disappointed, as WBA World
Flyweight Champion Susi
Kentikian (16-0) was awarded a
split decision on May 25, 2007
in Cologne. In the rematch seven
months later, Kentikian won
another very close fight, but
this time unanimously.
At the end of 2007 Hokmi had a
record of 10-6-1 (6), but
amazingly five of her defeats
had come in competitive
challenges for world titles.
With a bit of luck she would
have been European and World
Champion already, but luck was
not her friend in the big
fights.
But she made the adversity work
in her favor, and the Kentikian
rematch would be the last time
she lost a fight. Hokmi won the
French national Bantamweight
title in 2009, and in June of
2010 she finally got an
opportunity to become world
champion with home-advantage.
Headlining at the Stade Joffre
Lefebvre in Lingolsheim, France,
Hokmi squared off with American
former world champion Elena Reid
(19-5-6) for the vacant WBF
World Super Flyweight crown. And
this time the judges would not
deny her victory.
Everything came together
perfectly for Hokmi, as she beat
Reid convincingly, winning all
ten rounds on one scorecard and
nine of ten rounds on the two
others. In her sixth attempt,
she was finally champion of the
world!
Almost exactly one year later
Hokmi added the vacant WIBF
World Super Flyweight title,
beating another former world
titlist in Julia Sahin (20-2).
Following that triumph she
decided to move up in weight,
and attack the Bantamweight
division.
On October 17, 2013 she captured
the vacant WBF World
Bantamweight title with a
majority decision over Mexican
Linda Soto (6-3). Soto, the WBF
Intercontinental Super Flyweight
ruler, put up a very good fight,
but finally a close decision
went in the favor of Hokmi.
Unfortunately inactivity
prevented Hokmi from
accomplishing even more than she
did. After a very active first
half of her career, she only
boxed ten times between 2008 and
2013. But in that period she
went undefeated, and won three
world titles in two weight
classes.
The fight against Soto turned
out to be her last, and she
officially retired in June of
2014 when she was honored at a
show in Lingolsheim. A prime
example that persistence pays
off, she ended her career with a
20-6-1 (9) ledger.
And have a look at this:
Disregarding the loss in her
1996 debut, the combined records
of her opponents in the other
five defeats were 103-0!
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