Caroline Veyre hopes her long transition ends in 2025 glory

Featherweight Caroline Veyre might appear mean when she trains, but she is the first to tell you she is just very focused. She shared this as she fought back a smile.

“When I train I’m really focused on everything I do,” Veyre told BoxingScene. “That’s probably why I don’t smile. It’s not because I mean anything. It’s just me being really rigorous with my training.”

Veyre, who recently signed with Salita Promotions, will be fighting Houston’s Carmen Vargas on the undercard of the February 2 fight card headlined by Claressa Shields-Danielle Perkins at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan.

Her 2024 was difficult, and might have left some fighters feeling jaded. Veyre, 36, lost her first fight. She parted ways with her Canadian promoter and looked to accelerate her career. The painful lessons taught by life gave her extreme highs and lows as she went to Las Vegas to spar with elite boxers like Alycia Baumgardner and Sandy Ryan. 

A 15-year amateur, Veyre was a 2020 Canadian Olympian. She won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan-American Games and has over 150 fights. Turning professional wasn’t easy though.

“It was a long transition,” Veyre told BoxingScene. “I would say I was really used to an amateur style. I had a European style too.”

“I understood the pro game was really different and I needed new tools,” Veyre, 8-1, said. “I found a really good coach who taught me how to change and make little adjustments that make a big difference.”

Veyre is originally from Paris, France and trains in Montreal, Canada. She began training with Samuel Decarie-Drolet, which she believes has helped her move from her amateur habits. Veyre won a 10-round unanimous decision over Gabriela Bouvier in December, which was the first fight she had with new trainer. 

The collaboration came after Veyre’s lone career defeat, in which she dropped a unanimous decision to Joana Chavarria Lopez in September in Mexico.

“I had the chance to come back from this defeat quickly and stronger and I proved it in my last fight,” Veyre said. “I’m just proud of myself because last year was a hard year. I bet on myself and I believe in myself. It really helps me now, because I have the chance to sign with Salita and it just shows that I have a lot of resilience. I’m strong mentally and I’m ready for bigger challenges.”

Vargas, 31, holds a record of 5-2 and enters her fight coming off an eight-round unanimous decision loss to Hannah Rapp in November. 

Being signed to Salita Promotions, Veyre believes it is a big step forward in her career given the commitment the promotion has shown to women’s boxing and promoting Shields. Veyre also remembers the sparring sessions in Las Vegas that further motivate her.

“The sparring confirmed to me that I can become a world champion,” Veyre said.

Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.