Mikaela Laurén

Mikaela Laurén (born 20 January 1976) is a Swedish professional boxer and former national team swimmer. In boxing she held the WBC female light middleweight title from 2014 to 2016, and has challenged once for the undisputed female welterweight championship in 2017.

Early life

Laurén grew up in Enskede in southern Stockholm. She started swimming at the age of three and trained with the Stockholm police sports association. At the age of eighteen she moved to the United States, there she was recruited by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. During her stay in the country she decided to tattoo the text "Destiny" on her lower back, at the same time that her best friend, swimmer Therese Alshammar, tattooed the text "Diva" at the same spot on her body. In 2001 Laurén returned to Sweden and continued her preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

In March 2005, she was arrested for having anabolic steroids at her home. She was sentenced to one year and two months imprisonment for doping and weapon crimes. She was released in May 2006 after serving her sentence. During her imprisonment she studied nutrition and training at the Mittuniversity in Östersund. She also continued physio and led the training for the inmates at the prison. After her release she educated herself to become a personal trainer, she decided to return to Santa Monica in the United States to start her work to become a professional boxer.

Laurén competed in the celebrity dance show Let's Dance 2017 which is broadcast on TV4. She was the first dancer to be eliminated.

Professional boxing career

Laurén signed a contract with New Sweden in May 2007 and made her professional debut in April 2009. On 8 November 2014 she won the WBC female superwelterweight title against American boxer Aleksandra Magdaziak.