Meet Elise Seignolle: Candidate to be President of World Boxing

Elise Seignolle embarked on a life changing decision when she decided to come over to the United States from France for an internship in New York in 2001. Seignolle began her career in the finance world in the Big Apple, never turning back to her previous life, eventually becoming a US citizen in 2014. She provides the passion and enthusiasm in her day-to-day corporate life, which she has gained over 20 years of experience in finance, to the sport of boxing. Seignolle stated that the sport of boxing was her calling and that she possesses the responsibility to ensure that boxing remains an Olympic sport but also to support a healthy and sustainable development of boxing across the world.

Seignolle’s boxing story began in 2012, when she decided to pursue the sport to honor her father who passed away. Seignolle had minimum training and experience at her first Golden Gloves tournament, but she had more heart and passion than any boxer there. In her first tournament she had an impressive Cinderella run and advanced to the semifinals where she lost to the eventual champion, Heather Hardy.

Seignolle stated that Hardy even went on to give her words of encouragement that fueled her for the rest of her life. “It was great fight, don’t give up as you have something that cannot be taught in the gym and that is heart,” Hardy said to Seignolle after the boxing match.

“There is nothing greater in life than finding its purpose and this is what boxing is for me,” Seignolle alluded to. “I had two very difficult crises in my personal life. If it was not for boxing, I am not sure how or if I would have, overcome them. Boxing gave me the drive, purpose and structure needed at the right time.”

Seignolle's passion for the sport of boxing is second to none. Her energy helped her find peace and comfort in her personal life and she quickly fell in love with the sport. She has an impressive boxing resume as she won two National titles for her club, the New York Athletic Club, where she now serves as the Vice Chairman of the boxing program. Multiple knee injuries unfortunately put an end to her boxing career. Seignolle's passion and motivation for the sport is higher than it has ever been, however, and she is excited for her future in the sport.

Seignolle stresses the importance that she was a boxer and possesses ring experince. Understanding the rules and the sacrifice of blood, sweat and tears that boxers demonstrate inside and out of the ring is vital to her. She believes this is one of her strongest contributions to her campaign to become the first President of World Boxing, as well as the first female to lead an International Federation for the sport. She feels many decisions that occur often fail to consider the boxers' point of view, and she believes they are the heart of the organization.

Prior to the launch of World Boxing, Seignolle looked to make a difference by becoming an Independent Director on the International Boxing Association (IBA) Board of Directors in May 2022. Unfortunately, due to poor governance practices, she left her position in April 2023 and decided to support the World Boxing momvent, which she believes is aligned with her inital purpose of keeping boxing at the heart of the Olympics.

Her time at IBA allowed her to gain great experience towards, not only what was needed for the sport, but also what caused the current hardships and challenges.

“Any experience is positive because it allowed me to grow and become a better leader," stated Seignolle. "Serving in that position allowed me to gain invaluable experience that will be extremely beneficial to buidling a solid International Federation by providing lessons on both what to do, but also what not to do."

She feels she can bring a great deal of knowledge and skill sets to the role of President of World Boxing. She is adamant that there is often a great deal of misinformation circulated, and that World Boxing is at an infancy stage. Seignolle is confident in herself and her background and feels she is equipped for the President role if elected.  

“While this position might appear intimidating to others, I see it as an amazing opportunity for boxing. We have the chance and the opportunity to all contribute to building a sustainable, ethical, and scalable future for boxing. We have a unique opportunity to build an International Federation from scratch that follows good governance principles and establishing best practices."

Seignolle went on to explain that a cultural change is needed across the board and her resume and experience has helped shape a vision to lead this. She wants to build this organization together and emphasized boxing needs to be united across the various Federations and Confederations.

“It is time to put aside egos and agendas and instead fight to unite and grow our sport together,” stated Seignolle.

Seignolle explains that if elected, it is important to her to unite and guide the sport of boxing. She wants to reclaim the rich legacy of boxing. Seignolle wants everyone to know that while she isn’t a politician, she has one common vision: a strong organization that will stand on its own two feet for years to come.

World Boxing will be hosting its inaugural Congress at the Mainacarden Venue in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on Nov. 24-25. This election will be the first election where members will vote for positions such as, President, Vice President (VP) of World Boxing’s Executive Board.