Quebec boxer Tammara Thibeault is fighting for world title, but has an eye toward elusive gold medal in LA28

To prepare for the toughest boxing match of her professional career, Tammara Thibeault went back to the amateurs.

Next week Thibeault, a 29-year-old from Shawinigan, Que., travels from her training base in Sheffield, England to Orlando, Fla., where she’ll challenge Desley Robinson for the Australian's two middleweight titles, in a bout slated for Aug. 8 and scheduled to air on ESPN in the U.S.

The bulk of Thibeault’s training took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she shared high-level sparring with national team boxers from India and New Zealand, in town fine-tuning ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Short-term, the camp helped iron sharpen iron. Thibeault, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champ, and a cohort of 2026 hopefuls helping each other peak for big competitions occurring two weeks apart. A win next week would make Thibeault a world champion after just five pro fights, a feat only a handful of boxers have achieved.

But her long-range goals are even more audacious.

In late 2025 Thibeault resumed her career as an Olympic-style boxer, eyeing the podium in Los Angeles two years from now. If she keeps winning on both fronts, she could become the first reigning pro champion to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. As an ambition, it’s far-fetched, but big plans are par for Tammara Thibeault’s course.

“I’m not afraid to take risks. It’s part of who I am,” said Thibeault in a Zoom interview from her apartment in Sheffield. “I love challenging myself. I love stepping up to the plate. I love making history. It’s cool. It’s satisfying.”

If we’re taking Thibeault’s goals in order, then we can’t take Aug. 8 – when she’ll challenge for Robinson’s IBF and WBO world titles – for granted. Robinson is a power