Former WBC heavyweight champion Alejandra Jiménez has found a new sporting home in HYROX, competing successfully in the women’s category years after denying claims she was born a man and walking away from boxing.

The Mexican fighter, known as ‘Tigre,’ fought for vindication throughout a bitter controversy that overshadowed her achievements in the ring. Before she left, a former opponent publicly escalated the accusations against her.

Now Jiménez is competing in another discipline, where her results in the women’s category are attracting attention for her athletic achievements rather than the allegations that followed her in boxing.

At HYROX Acapulco in September 2026, she completed the Women’s Pro competition in 1:10:03, finishing seventh among 85 competitors and fifth in her 35–39 age group.

Alejandra Jiménez’s Boxing Fight

World Boxing News extensively covered the controversy, including allegations made by former opponent Carlette Ewellwhom Jiménez defeated by stoppage during her reign as WBC heavyweight champion.

Ewell publicly claimed Jiménez had been born male and transitioned, pointing to her voice and physical appearance. The allegations were unsubstantiated but spread widely through boxing and social media.

Jiménez repeatedly denied them and explained that she suffered from hypothyroidism, a thyroid condition. The WBC also publicly defended her against the attacks.

The controversy intensified following her January 2020 victory over Franchón Crews-Dezurn at super middleweight.

Jiménez subsequently tested positive for stanozolol, receiving a nine-month suspension and losing her championship. The anti-doping violation was separate from the allegations concerning her sex.

Despite becoming eligible to return, she never fought professionally again.

In December 2022, WBN reported her emotional retirementwhen Jiménez spoke of leaving with a bitter taste and condemned the discrimination she had experienced.

She had won world titles in two vastly different weight divisions, but her final years in boxing became dominated by accusations about her identity.

Her fight for vindication continued after retirement. In 2023, WBN reported her discrimination complaint and attempts to secure recognition from the WBC.

HYROX Offers a New Beginning

Four years after leaving boxing, Jiménez has returned to competitive sport with a performance that places her among the leading finishers in a demanding Women’s Pro field.

In boxing, a former opponent questioned her identity publicly, and the accusations followed her until she walked away. In HYROX, she is competing in the women’s category and earning recognition for her athletic achievements.

HYROX has given Jiménez the chance to compete against women again, with her performances doing the talking.

For boxing, the sight of a former world champion thriving elsewhere after such a bitter departure is hardly a proud chapter.

When Jiménez retired, she said:

“I hope my work is worth it because I made history. But I could have done much, much more.”

She is still showing what she can do, only now it is happening outside boxing.

About the Author

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.

Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.

Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis are each searching for opponents ahead of their respective ring returns, but there is one active world champion whom Tim Bradley believes both men will be keen to avoid.

‘Tank’ Davis is winless since June 2024, with his most recent outing being a March 2025 draw against Lamont Roach Jr.

The Baltimore-based brute looks poised to return to action in early 2027, with fans eagerly awaiting news on whether the WBA champion-in-recess will seek to reclaim his WBA lightweight world title or venture up to super-lightweight.

Meanwhile, Stevenson has recently left Zuffa Boxingfrustrated at the fact that Dana White’s promotion have not found him an opponent in the near four-month spell since announcing him as their marquee signing.

Stevenson has been linked to names such as Devin Haney and Gary Antuanne Russell in recent months, but the four-division world champion chose not to pursuit a showdown with O’Shaquie Fosterdespite stating that he would face Foster if he overcame Ray Ford – which he did back in May.

With Stevenson no longer an option, Foster moved on to a three-belt unification with Emanuel Navarrete and scored a dominant win over the Mexican to add the WBO and IBF super-featherweight titles to his WBC crown on Saturday.

On his YouTube channeltwo-division world champion Bradley praised Foster’s performance and stated his belief that Stevenson and Davis will steer clear of a potential scrap with the 33-year-old.

“There’s not a lot of guys out there that has the skill set that O’Shaquie Foster has. I told you he’s something like a Crawford. Yeah, he’s a chameleon. He can adapt to anything inside the ring.

“Now you see why Shakur Stevenson didn’t want no action. Now you see why. That’s why. Yeah, Tank Davis, you ain’t going to want none either.”

Foster’s display has thrust him into the Fighter of the Year conversation, with the Texan now just one more win away from becoming the first undisputed 130lb champion since 1969.

Boxer Raven Chapman believes the fast actions of trainer Stuart Scott may have saved her life when she suffered a bleed on the brain over the summer.

The 32-year-old was airlifted to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma following a sparring session in Denmark on 24 July.

Chapman had collapsed after training and was taken to hospital after Scott called for an ambulance, to be later diagnosed with a brain haematoma and cerebral oedema.

“I remember the final spar where it happened, It was the third spar of the week and I felt fine going in there,” she told BBC South Today.

“It was just a sort of freak injury that I never thought it would happen to me, we (herself and Scott) have done hundreds of sparring rounds together and my fights.

“He knows the kind of things that I say and I wasn’t acting myself from what he said, that’s when he called an ambulance before anything even happened.

“I sat down and then it all sort of happened after that, luckily with where I was at the time, I think in under an hour from when the ambulance was called I was then into surgery.”

After reaching hospital, the procedure Chapman underwent successfully stemmed the bleeding in her brain and helped to stabilise the swelling.

A fundraiser was then launched online for people to contribute towards getting her back to the UK and her long-term recovery.

A total of £97,792 was donated after the page was shared widely among the boxing community on social media.

Chapman’s promoters Queensberry, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn and Most Valuable Promotions’ Nakisa Bidarian were among the leading donors.

“All the support that I got was just amazing,” Chapman added.

“That’s why, with all the fundraising money, I’m going to use that to make sure I’m getting everything so that I get better as that’s why people donated.

“It brings a tear to your eye when you see it and how much people are there for you in the community, it’s a special world, the boxing world.”