Cecilia Brækhus

Cecilia Carmen Linda Brækhus (born 28 September, 1981) is a Norwegian professional boxer and former kickboxer. She reigned as the undisputed female welterweight boxing champion from 2014 to 2020, and is the first woman in any weight class to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles simultaneously. Brækhus is also one of only 11 boxers in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles simultaneously.[nb 1]

Cecilia Brækhus
Brækhus modelling at the Oslo Fashion Show, 2010
Statistics
Nickname(s)The First Lady
Weight(s)
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
NationalityNorwegian
Born (1981-09-28) 28 September 1981
Cartagena, Colombia
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights39
Wins37
Wins by KO9
Losses2
Draws1
Medal record
Women's amateur boxing
Representing  Norway
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Podolsk Light-welterweight
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Tønsberg Light-welterweight
Silver medal – second place 2004 Riccione Light-welterweight

In 2017, the Boxing Writers Association of America named Brækhus their inaugural Female Fighter of the Year.[1] Guinness World Records awarded her with three recognitions in 2018: the Longest Reigning Female Boxing Champion, the Longest Reign as a Four-Belt Undisputed Boxing Champion, and the Most Bouts Undefeated by a Female World Champion Boxer.[2] As of September 2020, she is ranked as the world's second best active female welterweight by The Ring[3] and BoxRec,[4] and the third best active female, pound-for-pound, by The Ring,[3] fifth by ESPN,[5] and sixth BoxRec.[6]

Early life

Born in Cartagena, Colombia, Brækhus was adopted as a two-year-old by Norwegian parents and raised in Sandviken, Bergen.[7] She started kickboxing at the age of fourteen and soon began competing in amateur boxing competitions, achieving an amateur record of 75-5-0 before turning professional.[8]

Kickboxing career (semi-contact)

Amateur boxing career

Brækhus fought 80 matches and won 75 of them.

Professional boxing career

In November 2007, Brækhus signed a pro contract with German promoter Wilfried Sauerland, who announced his intention of making her the first Norwegian female World Champion.[7] Her first fight was against Croatian boxer Ksenija Koprek on 20 January, 2007.[11] On 14 March, 2009, she became the WBC World Champion in welterweight against Danish boxer Vinni Skovgaard and also claimed the vacant WBA female welterweight title.[12] Brækhus successfully defended her titles on later that year on 30 May against Amy Yuratovac in Helsinki, Finland, and on 12 September, 2009, against Lucia Morelli in Herning, Denmark.

Brækhus after defending her titles against Jill Emery in 2011

Eight months later, on 15 May, 2010, Brækhus successfully defended her WBA and WBC titles against American boxer Victoria Cisneros in Herning, Denmark, while winning the WBO title. In a unanimous decision, the judges declared the fight for Brækhus, having won all 10 rounds.[13][14] On 30 October, 2010, Brækhus successfully defended her WBA, WBC and WBO titles in Rostock, Germany against Mikaela Laurén from Sweden, while winning the World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) title. Brækhus won by knockout in the 7th round.[15]

In 2010, Brækhus was voted the "Female Boxer of the Year" by German boxing magazine BoxSport. On 14 September, 2014, after defeating Croatian Ivana Habazin, Brækhus became the first Norwegian and the first woman to hold all major world championship belts in her weight division (welterweight) in boxing history.[16]

On 5 May, 2018, HBO broadcast its first women's bout, between Brækhus and Kali Reis, where Brækhus successfully defended her titles.[17][18]

Professional boxing record
40 fights 37 wins 2 losses
By knockout 9 0
By decision 28 2
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
40 Draw 37–2–1 United Kingdom Terri Harper MD 10 7 Oct 2023 United Kingdom Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England For WBA and WBO female super welterweight titles
39 Win 37–2 Argentina Marisa Joana Portillo UD 6 17 Dec 2022 United States Commerce Casino, Commerce, California, US
38 Loss 36–2 United States Jessica McCaskill UD 10 13 Mar 2021 United States American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas, US For WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and inaugural The Ring female welterweight titles
37 Loss 36–1 United States Jessica McCaskill MD 10 15 Aug 2020 United States Downtown Streets, Tulsa, Oklahoma, US Lost WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
36 Win 36–0 Argentina Victoria Bustos UD 10 30 Nov 2019 Monaco Casino de Salle Medecin, Monte Carlo, Monaco Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
35 Win 35–0 United States Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes UD 10 8 Dec 2018 United States StubHub Center, Carson, California, US Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
34 Win 34–0 Russia Inna Sagaydakovskaya UD 10 21 Jul 2018 Russia Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
33 Win 33–0 United States Kali Reis UD 10 5 May 2018 United States StubHub Center, Carson, California, US Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
32 Win 32–0 Sweden Mikaela Laurén TKO 6 (10), 1:35 21 Oct 2017 Norway Oslofjord Convention Center, Stokke, Norway Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
31 Win 31–0 Argentina Erica Farias UD 10 9 Jun 2017 Norway Bergenhus Festning, Bergen, Norway Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
30 Win 30–0 Sweden Klara Svensson UD 10 24 Feb 2017 Norway Spektrum, Oslo, Norway Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
29 Win 29–0 France Anne Sophie Mathis TKO 2 (10), 1:05 1 Oct 2016 Norway Spektrum, Oslo, Norway Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and IBO female welterweight titles
28 Win 28–0 Uruguay Chris Namús UD 10 27 Feb 2016 Germany Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle, Germany Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO female welterweight titles;
Won vacant IBO female welterweight title
27 Win 27–0 Germany Jennifer Retzke UD 10 29 Nov 2014 Denmark Falkoner Center, Frederiksberg, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO female welterweight titles
26 Win 26–0 Croatia Ivana Habazin UD 10 14 Sep 2014 Denmark TAP1, Copenhagen, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles;
Won IBF female welterweight title
25 Win 25–0 Germany Jessica Balogun UD 10 7 Jun 2014 Germany Sport- und Kongresshalle, Schwerin, Germany Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
24 Win 24–0 France Myriam Lamare UD 10 1 Feb 2014 Denmark Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
23 Win 23–0 Dominican Republic Oxandia Castillo TKO 9 (10), 1:51 7 Sep 2013 Denmark Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
22 Win 22–0 United States Mia St. John TKO 3 (10), 1:38 13 Apr 2013 Denmark Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
21 Win 21–0 France Anne Sophie Mathis UD 10 22 Sep 2012 Denmark Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
20 Win 20–0 Germany Jessica Balogun UD 10 1 Jun 2012 Denmark MCH Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
19 Win 19–0 United States Ku'ulei Kupihea TKO 10 (10), 0:57 3 Dec 2011 Finland Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
18 Win 18–0 United States Chevelle Hallback UD 10 7 May 2011 Denmark Koncerthuset, Copenhagen, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
17 Win 17–0 United States Jill Emery UD 10 2 Apr 2011 Denmark MCH Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
16 Win 16–0 Serbia Eva Bajic KO 3 (10), 0:27 20 Nov 2010 Denmark MCH Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark Retained WBC and WBO female welterweight titles
15 Win 15–0 Sweden Mikaela Laurén TKO 7 (10), 0:40 30 Oct 2010 Germany StadtHalle, Rostock, Germany Retained WBA, WBC, and WBO female welterweight titles
14 Win 14–0 United States Victoria Cisneros UD 10 15 May 2010 Denmark MCH Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark Retained WBA and WBC female welterweight titles;
Won vacant WBO female welterweight title
13 Win 13–0 Italy Lucia Morelli UD 10 12 Sep 2009 Denmark MCH Messecenter, Herning, Denmark Retained WBA and WBC female welterweight titles
12 Win 12–0 United States Amy Yuratovac UD 10 30 May 2009 Finland Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland Retained WBA and WBC female welterweight titles
11 Win 11–0 Denmark Vinni Skovgaard UD 10 14 Mar 2009 Germany Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Germany Won vacant WBA and WBC female welterweight titles
10 Win 10–0 Bulgaria Borislava Goranova UD 8 25 Oct 2008 Germany Weser-Ems Halle, Oldenburg, Germany
9 Win 9–0 United States Cimberly Harris UD 8 20 Sep 2008 Germany Seidensticker Halle, Bielefeld, Germany
8 Win 8–0 United States Nicole Woods UD 6 21 Jun 2008 United States Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, US
7 Win 7–0 United States Adelita Irizarry UD 6 17 May 2008 Germany Oberfrankenhalle, Bayreuth, Germany
6 Win 6–0 Germany Tatjana Dieckmann UD 6 29 Mar 2008 Germany Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Germany
5 Win 5–0 Dominican Republic Wanda Pena Ozuna TKO 4 (4), 1:47 26 Jan 2008 Germany Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
4 Win 4–0 Bulgaria Borislava Goranova UD 6 23 Jun 2007 Germany Stadthalle, Zwickau, Germany
3 Win 3–0 Latvia Olga Bojare UD 4 26 May 2007 Germany Jako Arena, Bamberg, Germany
2 Win 2–0 Slovakia Jana Latova KO 2 (4), 0:12 17 Feb 2007 Belgium Complexe sportif, Evere, Belgium
1 Win 1–0 Croatia Ksenija Koprek UD 4 20 Jan 2007 Switzerland St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland

See also

Notes
  1. along with Bernard Hopkins (2004–2005), Jermain Taylor (2005), Terence Crawford (2017), Oleksandr Usyk (2018–2019), Claressa Shields (2019–2020, 2021–), Katie Taylor (2019–), Jessica McCaskill (2020–), Josh Taylor (2021–), and Canelo Alvarez (2021–), Devin Haney (2022–)

References
  1. "Cecilia Braekhus - BWAA Female Fighter of the Year". BoxingScene. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. "Undisputed champ Cecilia Braekhus honored by WBC in Kiev" Archived 2018-10-24 at the Wayback Machine. World Boxing News. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  3. "The Ring Women's Ratings". The Ring. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  4. "BoxRec: Female welterweight ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. "Women's boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Did Katie Taylor do enough to take over the No. 1 spot?". ESPN.com. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  6. "BoxRec: Female P4P ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. (in Norwegian) Profile/Blog Blog Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine at TV2blogg.no
  8. "Cecilia Brækhus Awakening Profile". Awakeningfighters.com. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  9. "WAKO official tournament results". Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  10. 2002 King's trophy recipients Archived 2014-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  11. (in Norwegian) Nervøs, men selvsikker BA.no
  12. Cecilia Braekhus new WBA 147 World Champion Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine WBAnews.com
  13. VG.no - Suverene Brækhus tok ny tittel
  14. Dagbladet.no - Brækhus forsvarte mesterbeltene
  15. Brækhus vant på knockout vg.no
  16. Brækhus first woman to unify division Archived 2015-11-23 at the Wayback Machine The Foreigner
  17. 🖉"Cecilia Braekhus outpoints game Kali Reis, remains undisputed welterweight champ". 6 May 2018.
  18. 🖉Mahmood, Zahid (2 May 2018). "HBO's first televised female boxing match breaking 'the last barrier'". CNN.
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