Since the World Boxing Federation was originally founded by American Larry Carrier in 1988, many of the sport’s biggest names have won a WBF title, and proudly defended the blue, red and gold belt all over the world.
In the Champions Of The Past Series we take a closer look at some of the boxers who held WBF titles in years gone by, from lesser known champions to world renowned fighters, legends of the sport and current or future Hall of Famers.
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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