Boxer Tammara Thibeault makes history in the ring

Boxer Tammara “Tamm” Thibeault, BA 23, made history this summer, becoming the first Canadian woman to unify three major professional boxing titles.

Just five professional fights into her career, the two-time Olympian claimed the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and Ring Magazine middleweight world titles when she defeated Australia’s Desley Robinson on August 8 in Orlando, Fla.

It’s the latest milestone in an extraordinary career, one built not only in the boxing ring, but through years of balancing elite competition with higher education.

Before turning professional, Thibeault had already established herself on the international boxing stage, winning a world championship in 2022 and representing Canada at two Olympic Games.

“Being a student and being a high-performance athlete isn't for the weak,” she says. Thibeault’s years at Concordia taught her time management, discipline and perseverance, while supportive professors helped her keep up with her studies as she travelled internationally to compete.

That balancing act continued after graduating with a BA in urban studies in 2023. She went on to complete an intensive master’s degree in urban design and planning at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, completing 180 credits and a design dissertation in just 11 months while continuing to compete.

“It was honestly probably the hardest thing I'd ever done,” she says.

An Olympic dream

Thibeault’s introduction to boxing came through her father, a former CFL wide receiver who trained at a boxing gym during the football off-season. For Thibeault, the gym became a place where the two could share time together.

When women’s boxing was added to the Olympic program in 2010, something clicked. “I was like, okay, this is what I want to do,” she recalls. The Olympic dream gave her a new sense of purpose.

Thibeault says her confidence before a major fight comes simply from the work she has put in.

“I’m fighting the person in front of me, not the occasion,” she says. “My focus is on effort, not on results.”

That mindset was especially important after the 2024 Paris Olympics, which did not unfold as she had hoped. The experience challenged her to rethink how she dealt with pressure, patience and expectations — lessons she carried forward into this year’s championship run.

For Thibeault, what comes next matters even more.

“I really hope I'm not the last,” she says.