Braekhus will break the all-time record for consecutive defences, established by Hall of Fame heavyweight Joe Louis, if she wins tonight
They call her ‘The First Lady’ of women’s boxing and had it not been for a resurgence in the sport, Cecilia Braekhus may have been in retirement this weekend instead of headlining Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom USA boxing event where the ring has taken over an intersection in the downtown area of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Undefeated in 36 fights, the 38-year-old born in Cartagena, Colombia, though a Norwegian citizen after being adopted at the age of two, Braekhus will redefine ‘street fighting’ and, having held world titles for eleven years, makes the 26th defence of her title when she faces Jessica McCaskill, a former foe of Katie Taylor. By claiming victory in Tulsa, Braekhus will have broken the all-time record for consecutive defences, established by Hall of Fame heavyweight Joe Louis.
“This is a chance to put my name in the history books, and I’ve used that as motivation in camp, but I never take anything for granted and my focus is just on being the best I can be,” explained Braekhus this week. “I’ve already achieved a lot but I don’t want to rank it really. I was the first woman to box in Norway and did it in front of 10,000 people, I was the first woman to box on HBO, so when I look back I will be proud of the part I played in the growth of women’s boxing.”
“Right now, I feel very lucky to be a part of this boom in women’s boxing and have challenges like this in this Jessica fight, or a Katie Taylor fight in the future,” she added.
Times have changed, and Braekhus wants to make the most of the current appetite for women’s boxing. “It’s two different worlds from when I started to today: I wasn’t allowed to go to the Olympics; a lot of coaches turned me down because they didn’t want to train women fighters,” she explained. “I could go on and on but I always knew that it didn’t make sense and knew it would change, and it’s been great being a part of it. Women can now go to the Olympics, we’re selling out shows, we are headlining and we’re boxing on every major platform. I am so proud of that.”
It has been a long road for the fighter, overcoming many obstacles, which started 25 years ago. “I was 13 when I started and it was frowned upon even to have big muscles. It was just a whole different setting then. I am proud but I want to be a part of taking it to new heights. I see the new generation coming up and that makes me so happy, because when I retire I know that they are there and there’s amazing fighters coming through.”
Braekhus listed the new swathe of rising female boxers: “Tasha Jonas, Katie Taylor from the Olympics and so many others like Delfine Persoon, Terri Harper, they are just great athletes, so professional and the level is crazy high and it’s just getting better and I need to keep up with it. I like this mini-tournament that we’re in right now with myself, Jessica, Katie and Delfine. Hopefully the winners will meet each other, it would be something to elevate women’s boxing and create a lot of hype.”
She added: “We just needed someone to believe in women’s boxing in terms of promoting us, putting their strength behind us in promotion and giving us a platform for us to be shown. We have been waiting for this for hundreds of years so we are not going to say ‘no’ to a fight. We are tough because of what we go through as a female in this sport, both as a boxer and an advocate for it.”
Matchroom Boxing have positioned the ring for Saturday night’s card at the intersection of E. 5th Street and S. Boston Avenue in Tulsa, with no fans present, strict social distancing and medical protocols in place.
As Hearn explained: “For our return in the US we wanted to stage something as unique, ambitious and spectacular as we have with Fight Camp at Matchroom HQ in the UK, and I believe that’s exactly what we have in Oklahoma.” And Braekhus means to make the most of it, with the winner of her world title defence against McCaskill set to be in line to face the winner of Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon who rematch in Brentwood, Essex, on August 22.