First of women having breather before the French fight (7)
I believe the answer is:
wrestle
'fight' is the definition.
(I know that wrestle is a more specific form of fight)
'first of women having breather before the french' is the wordplay.
'first of women' becomes 'w' (1st letter of 'women').
'having' says to put letters next to each other.
'breather' becomes 'rest' (a breather is a break or rest).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'w'+'rest'+'le'='WRESTLE'
(Other definitions for wrestle that I've seen before include "Fight; struggle" , "Struggle, grapple" , "Fight - get to grips (with)" , "Fight in the ring" , "Struggle physically or mentally" .)