Most fans will probably concur that boxing is a dangerous sport. Given that the primary goal is the infliction of physical pain on your opponent while at the same time avoiding pain, It is one sport in which the word “play” is foreign. The “field” is an enclosed, ill described “ring” about which one of the sport’s greatest champions once said, “you can run, but you can’t hide.” Given these parameters, it becomes readily apparent that the sport of boxing is not for the faint of heart and that those who choose a path to the ring should possess  a large amount of courage and will power. One look at Anne Sophie Mathis and her 5’11”  physique goes a long way towards eliminating  any thought of using the term “faint hearted” and not being surprised that, in her youth, Mathis fit quite comfortably into her native France’s combat sport of savate  and, later, kickboxing. At 18, Mathis brought her skills to the boxing ring, turning professional with a first round TKO in a customary debut bout in Hungary. 

It was her next move that would forecast her career long desire for top flight competition. In lieu of another “walk over” opponent, Mathis, in her second professional bout, stepped in with unbeaten, tough veteran Marischa Sjauw. The unsurprising result, a five round TKO win for Sjauw and the three knockdowns Mathis sustained were a lesson she contemplated often during her following eight year hiatus from boxing  as she, again, contented herself with savate. In 2003, she once again climbed into the boxing ring with, albeit, a slightly longer string of introductory bouts. However, her competitive nature, once more, took over and, in her ninth bout, she was matched with and TKO’d rugged, unbeaten, Nathalie Toro, winning the European Super Lightweight crown. And, indeed, for Anne Sophie Mathis and Women’s boxing on the European continent, the die was cast. Over the next eleven years, it is hardly an overstatement to suggest that Mathis was the dominant force behind the rise in popularity of female boxing in Europe. Following her startling win over Toro, Mathis faced, over her career, every one of the top welterweights in the sport: Jane Couch, Duda Yankovich, Myriam Lamare, Holly Holm and Cecilia Braekhus, the absolute cream of the crop in the talent laden welterweight division. 

Mathis had return bouts with Lamare, Holm and Braekhus and the Lamare and Holm bouts had particular impact on Women’s boxing. The first Lamare bout, in December 2011, was, quite simply, a revelation to the European boxing fans that there was now, on the scene, female fighters with a full range of skills that elevated their sport far beyond the level of a curious adjunct to the male version. The back and forth bout was stopped in the seventh round despite strong protests from Lamare. The return bout, six months later, was ten rounds of exactly the same kind of world class skill, resulting in a razor thin majority decision for Mathis.

Boxing had ceased being a male dominated sport on the continent. Five years later, Mathis journeyed abroad to Albuquerque, New Mexico,  to contest the reigning face-of-boxing Holly Holm, whose speed and punching power had dominated the sport as few previously had.  Holm’s speed provided an early edge, but in the sixth round Mathis unleashed a barrage of right hands that sent Holm to the canvas. Holm barely answered the seventh round bell and Mathis ended it with a devastating barrage of punches leaving Holm senseless and unable to continue. In that title bout, Mathis won the WBAN welterweight P4P World title belt, and IBA World welteweight title belt.

A return bout six months later, again in Albuquerque and contested in a legally enlarged ring, saw Holm take full advantage of her speed to gain a unanimous decision. Mathis retired in 2016, finishing her career exactly the way she began it, seeking to matchup with the sport’s top welterweights. Her final five bouts, two against Cecilia Braekhus, were with opponents who had a combined record of 90-2. That one statistic, alone, is an apt coda for the career of Anne Sophie Mathis and what she meant to the sport of Women’s boxing in Europe and an example for all boxers who will follow her path to the ring, yearning to be taken seriously in their chosen sport; to be the best, you need to fight the best. It is also a reason for her deserved induction into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in August.