Sadaf Khadem

Sadaf Khadem (; born January 23, 1995 She held her first official fight on April 14, 2019, where she defeated Anne Chauvin from France. This fight meant she was the first Iranian woman to be part of an official boxing match.

Khadem and her trainer, Mahyar Monshipour, had been expected to return to Tehran after the win, but she canceled her return to Iran after an arrest warrant was issued due to breaching dress rules for women in Iran.

Biography

Khadem began her athletic career at the age of nine, with an initial interest in basketball. After observing professional basketball players incorporating boxing into their training to improve their conditioning and morale, she decided to take up the sport herself. She began her training in Tehran and subsequently continued in Varamin, despite the long commute from her home. Although Khadem was accepted into a university program to pursue a degree in sports engineering, she eventually dropped out to focus on boxing full-time. Alongside her dedicated boxing regimen, she also participated in fitness and basketball classes.

Mahyar Monshipour became her boxing trainer in 2008. In 2014, she accepted an invitation to compete in an official boxing match in France, despite facing opposition from the Ministry of Sports of Iran. Following the match, Khadem and Monshipour had plans to return to Iran, however, lingering rumors of potential arrest warrants kept them in France. Khadem's representative told Reuters that authorities had issued arrest warrants against her and Monshipour. Hossein Soori, the head of Iran's boxing federation, denied Khadem would be arrested, attributing the information to “media linked to Saudi Arabia”.