THE NEWEST YOUNG LION - GEBRIL CHAIBI
One of the newest, and youngest, members of the Lion Fight stable is Gebril Chaibi.
The French fighter was scheduled to make his organizational debut on Lion Fight 63 in Los Angeles in a matchup against reigning North American Featherweight champ Victor Saravia. That bout, of course, is on hold due to the pandemic, but is on the radar when action resumes. Chaibi, who has been training in northern California for the past several months, welcomed the opportunity to allow Lion Fight fans to get to know him a little better.
Q: Tell us about where you came from and when did you start fighting? A: I come from a small town called La Chapelle in Saint-Etienne. My father put me boxing at a very young age. At the age of six, I wore my first gloves. I had my first professional fight without protection at the age of nine in Thailand. Then in 2015, I left France and moved to Thailand on my own. That’s where I had my first professional fights.
Q: What has been your most cherished battle memory so far? A: My best memory in combat was a fight with the Muay Thai Xtreme organization where I fought for the first time with MMA gloves. It was my hardest fight, but the one where I feel I exceeded my limits the most and so the one I am most proud of.
Q: Tell fans in America what they can expect in terms of your fighting style and your best attributes A: They can expect a very nice and very technical war.
Q: I don’t think Lion Fight fans will really know that you are very young (turning 20 years old on May 30), but that you have almost 60 professional fights. What did this experience bring you as a young fighter?
A: This experience allows me to be able to box any kind of boxer. It also gave me the ability to read fighters and created a toughness in me.
Q: How will it be for you to have your first fight in America and face a well-known fighter in Victor Saravia? A: I am very proud of the opportunity to box in the USA especially for a beautiful organization like Lion Fight. I am all the more proud because I know that I have a good opponent in front of me which will surely make for a very good first fight in the United States.
Q: Do you expect this upcoming fight to be more of a technical battle, or do you see it more as an action-style showdown? A: I would say a mixture of both good technique and good action.
