French pro boxing: four new national champions on one night

Four French professional title belts changed hands on Saturday 31 October, on a busy weekend for French boxing: the French federation (FFBoxe) counted 18 bouts involving French professionals across eight towns. Lounes Hamraoui in Rouen, Makan Traoré and Hadria Bader in Royan, and Fany Galle in Savenay all left with a national title.

Hamraoui's quick knockout in Rouen

The fastest was Lounes Hamraoui. At the Halle Saint-Exupéry in Rouen, the Normandy boxer took the lightweight title from Samy Khellas, who was making his second defence. After an even first round, Hamraoui landed a left, a right hook and another left in the second, and Khellas stayed down for several seconds. A professional since 2025, Hamraoui is now 3-0, with every win inside the distance. Several members of the French amateur team, including Romane Moulai and Davina Michel, were ringside.

On the same card, Jeremy Roulleau (middleweight), Sofiane Abdeljabbar (cruiserweight) and Nehemie Kiadia (middleweight) won on points.

Royan: Traoré dethrones Bartolo, Bader crowned

In Royan, Makan Traoré took the super welterweight title from Yamin Bartolo, who had lost only once in twelve fights. It was a split decision after ten rounds: two judges had it 97-93 for Traoré, the third 96-94 for Bartolo. Hadria Bader became French flyweight champion by beating Maloway Canlers over eight rounds (77-75, 77-75, 78-74).

Arthur Aslanian (super welterweight) won by referee stoppage in the second round, and heavyweight Vincent Djinou made a winning professional debut, taking all four rounds on all three cards.

Galle champion in Savenay, two international belts

In Savenay, western France, Fany Galle won the welterweight title against Sandy Meunier, with a clear margin on all three cards (79-73, 80-72, 78-74).

Two French boxers also won international belts. In Les Sables-d'Olonne, Enzo Grau took the WBC Francophone belt by beating Christopher Mouafo over ten rounds (97-93, 100-90, 99-91). Hugo Grau won at welterweight on the same card. In Besançon, Don Yves Mikael Taha won the IBF Mediterranean welterweight belt against Islem Merabet (97-91 on all three cards).

The weekend also brought a winning debut for Solana Ayivi at middleweight in Ris-Orangis and a draw for Jan Noori in Villedieu-les-Poêles. That same night in Riyadh, Christian Mbilli lost his WBC world title to Canelo Alvarez.