| Jelena Janićijević | |
| Birth Date: | 7 March 1985[1] |
| Birth Place: | Belgrade, Serbia[2] |
| Nationality: | Serbian |
| Weight: | Lightweight, Light-welterweight, Welterweight |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Boxrec: | 850622 |
| Wins: | 5 |
| Ko: | 2 |
| Losses: | 1 |
| Draws: | 1 |
| No Contests: | 1 |
Jelena Janićijević (Serbian: Јелена Јанићијевић, born 7 March 1985) is a Serbian professional boxer who is a former European female lightweight champion. She is the first female boxer from her country to win a senior medal at an International Boxing Association sanctioned competition, having won bronze at the 2022 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships.
A former kickboxer, Janićijević switched to boxing in 2015.[3] She lost on her professional debut suffering a points decision defeat to Nahed Kharchi in a six-round contest in Drap, France, on 29 September 2018.[4]
Three victories and a no contest followed before, on 24 September 2021, Janićijević fought Oleksandra Sidorenko for the vacant European female lightweight title with the contest in Oborniki, Poland, ending in a draw.[5] A rematch was held on 5 March 2022 in Dzierżoniów, Poland, with Janićijević winning the bout, and the title, by split decision. Two judges scored 96-94 and 97-93 respectively for Janićijević and the third gave the contest 96-94 for Sidorenko.[6]
Taking advantage of a change in rules that allowed professionals to take part in previously amateur-only competitions, Janićijević competed at the 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2022, going out in the light-welterweight quarter-finals to the eventual gold medalist, Ireland's Amy Broadhurst.[7]
In October 2022, she won the first ever senior medal for a Serbian female boxer at an International Boxing Association sanctioned event when she took bronze at the 2022 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro.[8] [3] Competing in the welterweight category, she beat Shahla Allahverdiyeva from Azerbaijan by third-round stoppage in the quarter-finals[9] before losing to Germany's Stefanie Von Berge in the final four.[10] Just as had been the case at the world championship, her conqueror went on to win the gold medal.[11]
At the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi, India, Janićijević lost in the light-welterweight category round of 16 to Uzbekistan's Khadichabonu Abdullaeva.[12] [3]
Janićijević looked set to get an opportunity to become a professional world champion when the IBF ordered negotiations to take place between her and Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira to fight for the female lightweight title vacated by Katie Taylor.[13] However, she was removed from the IBF's rating for undisclosed reasons after terms for the contest were not agreed before the negotiation period expired.[14] [15]
Janićijević has a PhD in English literature and is a taekwondo black belt.[3]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Win | 5–1–1 | Sarah Weidmann | UD | 10 (10) | 5 January 2023 | |||
| 7 | Win | 4–1–1 | Oleksandra Sidorenko | SD | 10 (10) | 5 March 2022 | |||
| 6 | Draw | 3–1–1 | OleksandraSidorenko | SD | 10 (10) | 24 September 2021 | |||
| 5 | Win | 3–1 | Karina Szmalenberg | UD | 6 (6) | 9 August 2020 | |||
| 4 | Win | 2–1 | Joanna Ekedahl | KO | 5 (6) | 22 June 2019 | |||
| 3 | NC | 1–1 | Licia Boudersa | NC | 5 (6) | 23 February 2019 | |||
| 2 | Win | 1–1 | Donya Darouiche | KO | 3 (4) | 3 November 2018 | |||
| 1 | Loss | 0–1 | Nahed Kharchi | PTS | 6 (6) | 29 September 2018 |