Tamm Thibeault: “I want to come out of my career satisfied. That is a luxury that not many athletes get.”

Tamm Thibeault: “I want to come out of my career satisfied. That is a luxury that not many athletes get.”

Tamm Thibeault had an amateur career that anyone would be proud of. A world amateur champion. A Commonwealth Games champion. A Pan American Games champion. But the Canadian middleweight wanted more.

“I am happy and very proud of what I have accomplished,” Thibeault told me over Zoom. “But am I content? That’s another question. There is one more thing I would like to check off from my bucket list.”

It is that Olympic medal that is missing from her collection. Two Olympic cycles went without reward. A dream that perhaps hasn’t yet been extinguished. “We’ll see,” Thibeault says when I ask if she will try again for the missing piece of her boxing puzzle. “I can neither confirm nor deny at this point.”

Thibeault is now chasing new goals, although an old one still lingers strong. Undefeated in two fights since turning professional in 2024. Jake Paul is revolutionising women’s boxing. Paul and his Most Valuable Promotions have made some serious investments in the female side of the sport. Thibeault was one of his early signings. “I signed with Jake late last year before he started signing everyone else,” Thibeault told me. “It just made sense with where the company was heading and what they wanted to do in the sport. They wanted to be trailblazers, and that was my mission as well. So, I thought our values aligned. I am very happy with it.”

“From a promotional perspective, it does make making fights easier,” Thibeault added when I asked what specifically does she get out of being aligned with Paul and MVP. “But it’s also very new, so we will see where it goes. But so far, it’s been really good. But we will only see the longer-term effects in the next few years. But it gives me better visibility and a big platform. Not every fighter gets that big platform. Only a select few do.”

Thibeault is still new to the professional ranks. Only two fights in after that long and successful amateur career. A new world that the Canadian is adapting to, with one word being key. “I have had two fights, and every fight has been unique in its own way. It’s very different from the amateurs when it’s go, go, go, a constant turnaround. But as a pro, there is a build-up to the fights, so it is a very unique experience. So, I am excited to see where it goes. So far, it’s been fun, and I have enjoyed myself, and I want to continue to enjoy myself as well.”

Fight number three is fast approaching. An iconic venue. The hallowed ground of Madison Square Garden. The greatest array of female talent ever assembled on one night. The deepest all-female card in boxing history. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano are doing it for a third time. A historic night in so many ways. Thibeault will fight on that card. The moment isn’t lost on her, but the grand stage holds no fears for the undisputed middleweight hopeful.

“The opportunity just presented itself,” Thibeault told FightPost. “I didn’t have to push for it. They believe in my capabilities, and they know the level of boxer that I am. Some fighters might feel they don’t belong there or feel intimidated by it, but for me, I just feel I belong on that stage.”

An unbeaten American, Mary Casamassa, will offer Thibeault almost certainly the toughest test of her fledgling professional career to date. But the Canadian is feeling confident ahead of her big night. “Rising up to a challenge is something that I enjoy. I know who I am facing, and I will expect the best version of her. But I will be ready for that. But she should expect that of me.”

“Not really,” Thibeault adds when I ask if she has any names in mind for future opponents. “If I have learned anything from my amateur career, it is to take one fight at a time. For example, this opportunity with MVP, I didn’t have to force myself on it. It presented itself, and I took it. It’s the same with the fight, and I’m going to progress the same way. I am not in any rush. I still have a lot to give to the sport. My body isn’t beat up. In the sense that I am not an injured athlete. I am not someone who has struggled with injuries. I am not in any rush to get anywhere.

“I am not someone who chases people, and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. If an opportunity presents itself, wonderful, it would be a nice challenge. But women’s boxing changes so much. Who will have the belts, who isn’t retired, who is coming up, these are things that we can’t predict. So we will see when the time comes.”

Like many, it was the family connection that was the catalyst for her entry into boxing.

“My dad was an American football player; he was a wide receiver in the early 00s. Back in the day, in the off-season, he would go to the boxing club to stay in shape. My dad was a very active guy. He had four kids, so we all went to the boxing club. Then my dad started competing in boxing when his professional football career was over. I just thought it was so bad-ass. It was the coolest thing. I just thought I wanted to do that as well. When they introduced women’s boxing into the Olympics in 2012, I told myself I wanted to be an Olympic champion. I’m still working on that. But I knew this was what I wanted to do. I didn’t really have a plan. I didn’t think I would be here today. The 10-year-old didn’t think she would be fighting at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of the two most iconic boxers of this era.”

“It’s probably the only place where I feel like myself,” Thibeault says of what boxing gives her. “When I am in my flow state, I am not overthinking it, and I am having fun. I genuinely just like doing it. I love going to the gym. I am a very active person. I love learning new things. I like the game, setting traps and the tactics behind it. The craft of boxing is something I enjoy.”

Tamm Thibeault opened our interview by saying she wasn’t content with her amateur career. She might still get that somewhere down the line. But the 28-year-old has an opportunity to now get that in the professional ranks. “I want to come out of my career satisfied. That is a luxury that not many athletes get.”

A fighter who wants to do it her way. And in her own time.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions