Janicijevic vs. Pili on December 5

Per-Ake Persson

It’s not often Serbian Jelena Janicijevic fights professionally but when she does, she does it well. The now 40-year-old turned pro in France in 2018 and began to make some noise when she knocked out Swedish prospect Joanna Ekedahl (then 8-0) in Denmark in 2019.

In 2020-21 she fought for the EBU title and went 1-0-1 against Pole Aleksandra Sidorenko in Poland. Another break – as in a return to amateur boxing – followed but in 2023 Janicijevic won the WBO European belt when she beat Sarah Wiedmann in Serbia and another break followed with only one fight in 2024 and now when 2025 comes to the end Janicijevic (6-1-1) goes for the vacant IBO super-lightweight title against the unbeaten Flora Pili (11-0) from France December 5 in St Avold.

Pili has previously held the French, EBU and WBO International titles but has probably never faced anyone like Janicijevic.