DUBAI: Kalthoum Hantoul, although a newcomer to the boxing world, swiftly made a pivotal choice.
On entering the ring, she realized that her career as a telecommunications specialist in the private sector paled in comparison to her passion for boxing.
The 29-year-old light flyweight from Dammam recently resigned from her job to fully devote herself to boxing, with her sights set firmly on the 2028 Olympics.
A silver medal at the recent Saudi Games 2023, after a challenging final against Sara Al-Shahrani, shows Hantoul could well be on the right path.
Born into a family of 11 siblings with a deep-rooted love for football, Hantoul started kicking a ball from an early age. However, when her women’s team failed to assemble the minimum seven players, that was when she turned to boxing.
“My parents have always been fans of Al-Nassr club, but most of us kids support Al-Hilal club, so there was always internal rivalry,” she said on the dynamics of her football family.
Hantoul pursued boxing secretly while her family believed she was still training for football. It was not until she clinched gold at the World Combat Games in Riyadh in October 2023 that her family began to embrace her dedication to this new sport.
“My family didn’t see boxing as a sport for women; they viewed it as brutal and physically demanding. Initially, I trained in secret, while they believed I was practicing football. That’s how it all began,” she said.
“My first fight was at the Saudi Games 2022. Until then, my family had refused my participation. But I kept going, and at the World Combat Games in Riyadh 2023, my whole family was watching. It was the real turning point for their support.”
Hantoul stumbled into the sport by chance in February 2022 when a boxing coach approached her as she was playing football and suggested she give it a try. Now she dedicates five days a week to training at Al-Taraji Club with her coach, Sajad Al-Jassas, a former boxer with the Saudi National Team and now their current coach.
Despite her desire to compete, her actual debut did not take place until November of last year at the Saudi Games.
“I attended around five different tournaments before the Saudi Games in order to compete, but there were no opponents in my weight category. I was eager to fight and excitedly awaited that day. When it finally arrived, I wasn’t nervous or scared just overjoyed to finally get to fight and I performed exceptionally well,” she said.
“After my participation in the Saudi Games 2022, I was invited to join the national team. I believe they took notice of my bout with Reem Al-Sharif, which was one of the most significant fights of the event. Following that, I took part in a local championship, and it was then made official — they selected me,” Hantoul said.
The boxing season in the Kingdom begins in January, featuring four annual main championships: the Regional Championship, the Saudi Cup, the Kingdom Cup, and the end-of-season qualification tournament for the Saudi Games.
The Saudi Boxing Federation has significantly contributed to the sport’s development, particularly in women’s boxing, with Rasha Al-Khamis — vice president of the federation — playing a pivotal role in this progress.
“Honestly, the Saudi Boxing Federation has helped the sport a lot, especially for women’s boxing,” Hantoul said.
“I heard that previously, there was minimal support for boxing,” she added. “But with the establishment of the new federation, many boxers, including those who had discontinued their careers, have started again due to the enhanced level of support.”
Despite taking up the sport as an adult, Hantoul displays fearlessness in the face of hard work and identifies the most challenging aspect of boxing as not the training or physical impact, but rather the mental battle of facing familiar opponents.
“I love the challenge. I love to be at the top of my sport. I love to be the best at every competition. This is what drives me — excellence, especially since I am representing the national team. It is a big thing to represent your country.”
In a short span of time, Hantoul has already graced the podium a few times with a silver medal on her debut at the Saudi Games in 2022, bronze at the 2023 Arab Games in Algeria, gold at the World Combat Games (Riyadh), and that silver at the recent Saudi Games 2023.
“Over the next few months, I want to go back to the drawing board and fix my mistakes, working on being better and winning gold medals from as many competitions as I can. I will just be training with my coach, Sajad Al-Jassas, at Al-Taraji Club as the new season of boxing starts soon in January,” Hantoul said.
“I know that I have four years to make it to the Olympics in 2028, and by doing this full-time, I think that I can be ready.”
