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Photo
Credit: Mary Ann Owen, WBAN Photographer 5′ 7½″ junior welterweight Cecilia
Brækhus was born on September 28, 1981 in
Cartagena, Colombia to Norwegian parents. She now lives in Bergen, Norway. She
began kickboxing at age 14 and won World and European amateur gold medals in
2003 at 65 kg before she turned to boxing.
In the amateurs: At the 2004 European Women's
Championships in Riccione, Italy, Cecilia took the silver medal at 63
kg with a loss to Vinni Skovgaard of Denmark in the final; In March 2005 at Trondheim,
Norway she won the Norwegian 75-kg championship with a 31-7 decision
over Ingjerd Skogmo; In May 2005 she won the 63-kg
European Women's Championship in Tonsberg, Norway defeating Julya
Nemtsova of Russian in the final on May 14 by a 22-15 margin. She had
previously defeated Mandy Leunissen of Holland (RSCO-2) and Larisa Pop of
Romania (29-18) in her quarterfinal and semifinal bouts; She won the silver medal at 63
kg in the 2005 AIBA Women's World Championships in Podolsk, Russia,
losing a rematch to Julya Nemtsova of Russia by a 34-23 margin in the
final on October 2. She had previously defeated Islak Elif of Turkey
RSCO- in the preliminary round, Alanna Murphy of Ireland (30-12) in the
quarterfinal, and Vinni Skovgaard of Denmark (40-24) in the
semifinal; At the 2006 Nordic Women's
Championships in Tonsberg, Norway on March 26, Cecilia defeated Vinni
Skovgaard of Denmark by a 17-14 margin to win the 63-kg division.
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen, WBAN
Photographer
She made her professional
debut on January 20 2007 at St. Jakob Halle in Basel, Switzerland,
with a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over Ksenija
Koprek from Croatia,
who fell to 0-2-0. Both boxers had weighed in at 140½ lbs.
She also caught the eye of coach Ulli Wegner,
On February 17, 2007 at
Complexe Sportif in Evere, Belgium, Brækhus stopped Jana Matisova
of Košice, Slovakia in the second round, dropping Matisova's record to
1-2 (0 KO's).
On May 26, 2007 at Jako-Arena
in Bamberg, Germany, Cecilia (141 lbs) won a four-round unanimous
(40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over Olga Bojare (133¼ lbs) of Latvia, who
fell to 1-5-1 with the loss.
(Bojare has never won outside Latvia but is a frequent opponent for
rising boxers in Germany.)
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen, WBAN
Photographer
On June 23, 2007 at Stadthalle
in Zwickau, Germany, Cecilia (141 lbs) won a six-round unanimous
decision over Borislava Goranova (140 lbs) of Bulgaria, who fell to
3-19-0 (0 KO's). (Goranova has never won outside Bulgaria but since
2001 has been a frequent opponent for world-ranked fighters in other
countries,
including Jane Couch four
times, Anne-Sophie Mathis
twice, Miriam Lamare, Agnieszka
Rylik, Heidi Hartmann
and Natascha Ragosina)
Although Cecilia decided to
take some time away from boxing after these bouts, she has built a fan
and media following in Norway. In January 2008 it was announced
that she would be the first female boxer to be signed by Team
Sauerland Event Gmbh, one of the leading boxing stables in
Germany and a competitor to Universum Box Promotion which built a
women's boxing franchise around Regina
Halmich. “Her tremendous
popularity and her great success have convinced us,” said
Sauerland managing director Chris Meyer about Brækhus.
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen, WBAN
Photographer
“I am really
looking forward to coaching a female
athlete,” said Sauerland trainer Ulli Wegner, adding: “There
are a lot of things my boys can learn from her. She´s got what it takes
to be a world champion.” She
says of Wegner: “He
looks very strict on TV but if you meet him in person he is a very nice
guy – a true gentleman. It´s been great to work with him.”
Brækhus,
who will be known henceforth as "First Lady", says her goal is to be a
world champion one day, adding that “Team Sauerland give me
all the support I need. I will pay back their confidence with a lot of
wins. For me it´s a great honour to be part of such a high-profile
boxing stable.”
On January 26, 2008 making her
Sauerland Event debut at the Tempodrom in Kreuzberg, Germany, Cecilia
(143¼ lbs) won by a TKO at 1:47 in the fourth round over Wanda Pena
Ozuna (141½ lbs) of the Dominican Republic, who fell to 4-3-0 (1
KO). Brækhus improved to 5-0
(2 KO's) as a pro boxer with this result.
On March 29, 2008 at
Sparkassen-Arena in Kiel, Germany, Cecilia (143½ lbs) won a six-round
unanimous (60-64,60-53,60-53) decision over Tatjana Dieckmann (146¾
lbs) of Hamburg, Germany who fell to 1-3 (0 KO's).
On May 17, 2008 at
Oberfrankenhalle in
Bayreuth, Germany,
Cecilia (141¼
lbs) won a six-round unanimous
(60-53,59-54,60-54)
decision over Adelita
Irizarry (142¾ lbs) of Hartford, Connecticut,
USA. Irizarry fell to
4-2 (2 KO's).
On June 21, 2008 in the first
ever women's bout at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida, Cecilia (139½ lbs)
fought a tough six-round see-saw battle with Nicole Woods (144 lbs) of
Stone Mountain, Georgia, USA, winning by a unanimous
(59-55,60-54,60-54) decision. Woods said, "Braekhus is a good
fighter and to take nothing away from her it was her day. I broke my
hand in the second round but continued on fighting with skill, heart
and determination, by no means was I outclassed. I would have loved to
see how the fight would have turned out if I had the use of both hands.
So to the Sauerland Team whether it be here in the US or in Germany,
Let's Do It Again". Woods
fell to 4-3 (0 KO's).
On
September 20, 2008 at Seidensticker Halle, in Bielefeld,
Germany, Cecilia (144½ lbs) won an eight-round unanimous
(80-72,80-72,80-73) decision over Kimberly "Cim" Harris (144¼ lbs) of
Tampa, Florida. Some of the card was televised, but the
Braekhus-Harris bout was not. Harris
dropped to 5-13 (0 KO).
On October 25, 2008 at Weser
-Ems-Halle in Oldenburg,
Germany, Cecilia Braekhus won an eight-round unanimous
(80-70,80-70,80-71)
decision over Borislava Goranova of Sofia, Bulgaria. Goranova fell to 4-25-1 (0 KO's).
On
March 14, 2009 at Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany, Cecilia defeated her
former amateur rival Vinni Skovgaard of Denmark by a 10-round unanimous
(98-92,96-94,96-94) decision for the vacant WBA and WBC Welterweight titles. Skovgaard
fell to 7-1 (3 KO's).
On May 30, 2009 at Hartwall
Arena in in Helsinki, Finland, Cecilia (144½ lbs) won a ten-round
unanimous (98-92 x 3) decision over Amy Yuratovac (146 lbs)
of Hammond, Indiana, USA defending the WBA and WBC Welterweight titles. Braekhus progressed to 12-0 (2
KO‘s) with the win as Yuratovac fell to 6-3 (6 KO's).
On September
12, 2009 at MCH Messecenter
in Herning, Denmark Cecilia
Braekhus (146 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,99-92,97-93) decision over previously
undefeated Lucia Morelli (142¼ lbs) of Offenburg, Germany for the WBC
and WBA Welterweight titles. Morelli fell to 13-1 (6 KO's) with the
loss while Braekhus improved to 13-0 (2 KO's).
“I am pleased with my performance,”
Braekhus said. “Amy
was an unorthodox fighter, she tried to fight
and I tried to box, but I am happy I defeated her clearly.”
Coach Ulli Wegner added that “Cecilia did very well
tonight. Her development is tremendous. Today was a good test for her
because her opponent was a true fighter and put on a strong
performance. But Cecilia found the right solutions.”
On May 15,
2010 at Herning Kongrescenter in Herning, Denmark, Cecilia (146½ lbs)
won a convincing ten-round unanimous (100-90x3) decision over Victoria
Cisneros (142¾ lbs) of Albuquerque, NM, USA defending the WBC and WBA
Welterweight titles and adding the vacant WBO Welterweight title to her
collection. Cisneros never got untracked offensively and did
well to stay on her feet throughout this bout, which was dominated from
start to finish by Brækhus's
boxing skills. Cisneros
fell to 5-9-1 (1 KO's).
On
October 30, 2010 at the Stadthalle
in Rostock, Germany, Cecilia (146½ lbs) TKO'd previously
unbeaten Mikaela Lauren (144¾
lbs) of Sweden at 0:40 in the seventh round of a scheduled ten-rounder
for Braekhus's WBC, WBA and WBO Welterweight titles. Lauren, a former
Swedish national swimming team member who was coming off a
six-round unanimous decision over veteran US boxer Jill Emery, had no
answers for Brækhus's
aggressive body attack so the outcome of
the fight never seemed in doubt. Lauren fell to 6-1 (1 KO) with the
loss.
On November
20, 2010 at Herning Kongrescenter in Herning,
Denmark, Cecilia Brækhus
(145 lbs) won by a third round KO over
Eva Halasi (142¼ lbs) in a scheduled ten-rounder for
the WBC and WBO Welterweight titles. Halasi fell to 6-3 (6 KO's).
On April 2,
2011 at Herning
Kongrescenter in Herning, Denmark, Cecilia (147 lbs) won a
10-round unanimous (98-92,98-92,99-91) decision over Jill Emery (145 lbs) of New
York defending her WBA, WBO, and WBC Welterweight
titles. Photographer
Mary Ann Owen told WBAN.
"Braekhus was very aggressive all ten rounds landing more
punches. Emery had problems with Braekhus's pressure
through out the rounds. Emery landed a few punches but not
enough pull out a win. Both fighters showed good sportsmanship
and hugged and talked after the fight." Emery
fell to 10-5 (4 KO's).
On
May 7, 2011 at the Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark,
Cecilia (145¾ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous
(97-93,98-92,98-92) decision over Chevelle
Hallback (142¼ lbs) of
Tampa, Florida defending the WBC, WBA and WBO Welterweight
titles. Although the scorecards favored Braekhus,
many
rounds were close as the smaller Hallback appeared to surprise Brækhus
with her
punching power and raised a noticeable swelling under the defending
champion's right
eye wih one of several hard shots in the fifth.
Braekhus had
controlled Hallback in
the early rounds but Hallback swung for the KO in the last two rounds
while Brækhus
used her mobility to get away and secure the points
decision.
"It was a good
fight, but I still have some things to work on",
said Brækhus,
adding "my guard was
not good enough. I did not think she would hit as hard as she
did." Brækhus
improved to 18-0 (4 KO's)
while Hallback fell to 28-7-2 (11 KO's).
On December
3, 2011 at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland,
Cecilia Brækhus (146½ lbs) TKO'd Kuulei Kupihea (146
lbs) of Honolulu, Hawaii, at 0:57 in the final round of a
scheduled ten for the WBC, WBA, and WBO welterweight
titles. Brækhus
controlled the action with her slick boxing skills before
trying to put her opponent away late in the fight. Kupihea was
clearly outskilled by the champion but she defended well until the
final round, then took a series of clean shots to the face including a
right-left
hook combo that had her stumbling against the ropes to
draw the stoppage. Kupihea fell
to 7-2 (2 KO's).
On
June 2, 2012 at
the Herning Kongrescenter, in Herning, Denmark,
Cecilia Brækhus(146¼
lbs) successfully defended the WBC, WBA, and WBO World
Welterweight titles with a ten-round unanimous decision
over Jessica Balogun (146¾ lbs) of Aachen, Germany. The
judges' scores were 97-93, 97-93, and 99-92. Brækhus
improved to 20-0 (5 KO's) while Balogun (ranked #13 at welterweight by
WBAN before this fight) fell to 22-2 (2 KO's).
On September 22, 2012
at Arena
Nord in Frederikshavn, Denmark, Cecilia Brækhus
(146¼ lbs) won a
10-round unanimous (97-93x3) decision over Anne-Sophie
Mathis (146 lbs) of Dombasle, France defending the WBA, WBC
and WBO Welterweight titles. Brækhus
seemed to have learned
more by watching
Mathis-Holm II three months earlier than Mathis had learned by being
in it, as Brækhus used her
athleticism to execute a
crisp stick-and-move plus clinch-if-in-danger strategy to frustrate
Mathis's
power punching. Mathis came forward steadily throughout the
fight
but Brækhus used her lateral
movement and speed to prevent Mathis from
landing more than occasional single shots solidly. Brækhus often
replied to a hard shot from Mathis with a hard combination of her own,
and she went forward aggressively with her own combinations if
Mathis slowed at all. Mathis showed little
willingness to
adapt her strategy throughout this fight, apparently hoping to
walk Brækhus down and overpower her
eventually. However,
Mathis
was never able to contain Brækhus
for long and she was
wrapped up
in clinches whenever Brækhus
was in any hint of
trouble. Brækhus advanced to 21-0
(5 KO's) while Mathis slipped
to 26-3 (22 KO's) with her second straight pro
loss.
On April 13 2013 at Arena Nord in
Frederikshavn, Denmark, Cecilia Brækhus
(144½ lbs) won by a TKO at
1:38 in the third round over Mia St. John
(140¼ lbs) of Oxnard, California, USA defending the WBA, WBC and WBO
Welterweight titles. St.John, who has boxed professionally since
1997 and "retired" from the sport on several occasions, offered
little resistance to Brækhus as she
fell to 47-13-2 (18 KO's).
On September 7, 2013 at Arena Nord in
Frederikshavn, Denmark, Cecilia Brækhus
(145½ lbs) won by a TKO at
1:51 in the ninth round over previously undefeated Oxandia Castillo
(146½
lbs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Brækhus was defending
the WBA, WBC and WBO Welterweight titles. Castillo, a 17-year-old
who had mainly fought unranked opponents in the Dominican Republic, had
burst onto the world scene with a stunning second round KO of Hanna
Gabriel of Costa Rica for the WBO Junior Middleweight title six months
before she faced Braekhus. Castillo put on an aggressive fight
but her relative inexperience showed as the match reached its later
rounds and Brækhus began to
dominate. Castillo fell to 12-1-2 (9
KO's) with the loss.
On February 1, 2014 at Arena Nord in
Frederikshavn, Denmark, Cecilia Brækhus
(145 lbs) won a clear
ten-round unanimous (100-89,100-90,100-89) decision over Myriam Lamare
(143 lbs) of Marseilles, France defending the WBA, WBC and WBO
Welterweight titles. The normally aggressive Lamare appeared reluctant
to close with Brækhus and intent on
staying safely away from her
combinations so she spent much of the matchup on defense (see video
above). Lamare
went to the canvas in the seventh and Brækhus
was rarely in any trouble as she coasted to a 24-0-0
(7 KO's) record while dropping Lamare's to 22-4 (10 KO's)
On June 7, 2014, at the Sport and Congress Center, Schwerin,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany,
Cecilia Braekhus won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jessica Balogun, 10 rounds. Braekhus
was defending her WBO, WBC, and WBA welterweight belts.
On September 13, 2014 in
Copenhagen, Denmark,
Cecilia Braekhus, now 26-0-0 (7KO), won a 10-round unanimous decision over
Ivana Habazin, 13-2-0. The two were fighting for the IBF, WBA, WBC,
and WBO welterweight titles. In a second bout, Klara Svensson won a
10-rounder over Marie Riederer. The two were fighting for the interim
WBC light welterweight title.
On November 29, 2014, at the Falconer Centeret, in Frederiksberg, Denmark Cecilia Braekhus, 142½,
successfully defended her titles(WBO, WBA, IBF, WBC) against
Jennifer Retke, 145½, in a ten-round unanimous decision; and Klara
Svensson, 138¼, won a ten-round unanimous decision over Lucia
Morelli, 135½.
On February 27, 2016, at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany,
Cecilia "First Lady" Braekus, 146¾, of Bergen, Noway, remaining
undefeated at 28-0-0 (7KO), successfully defended her WBC, WBA,
WBO, IBF, and IBO World Welterweight titles with a ten round
unanimous decision over Chris Namus, 146½, of Montevideo, Uruguay,
now 21-4- (8KO).
On October 1, 2016, at the The Spectrum, Oslo,
Norway,
Cecilia Braekhus, 145.75, won by a second round TKO over Anne-Sophie
Mathis, 145.25, in a scheduled unified world title bout for the WBC,
WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA Welterweight titles.
On February 24, 2017, at
the Spectrum,
Oslo, Norway,
Cecilia Braekhus, 146¾, Bergen, Norway, won a ten-round
unanimous decision over Klara Svensson, 145. Braekhus was
defending her WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO welterweight world title.
Final judges scores were 91-99, 91-99, and 90-100.
On June 9, 2017, in Bergenhus Festning, Bergen, Norway,
in what considered a five-star matchup, Cecilia "First Lady" Braekhus,
147, successfully defended her five welterweight world titles that include
the WBC, WBA, IBO, IBF, and WBO, winning by a unanimous decision over Erica
Farias, 144. Judges scores, 99-91, 99-91, 98-92.
On October 21, 2017, atthe Oslofjord Convention
Center, Stokke, Norway, Welterweight Cecilia Braekhus won by a sixth round
TKO over Mikaela Lauren. Braekhus successfully defended her
IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, and WBO welterweight titles.
On Saturday night on Cinco de Mayo,
May 5, 2018, multi-world welterweight champion, Cecilia "First Lady"
Braekhus of Bergen, Norway entered the ring Saturday night, holding
five of boxing's most prestigious titles that include the WBC, IBF,
IBO, WBA, and WBO. Across the ring was Rhode Island's own, Kali "KO
Mequinonoag" Reis, a former WBC women's champion, using her underdog
role to fuel a potential career altering victory.
Before a punch was thrown on Saturday
at the StubHub Center by either women, the few inches between
Braekhus and Reis were historic. The bout will be remembered as an
action-packed fight from start to end, but more importantly, the
first ever women's bout televised on HBO, and it certainly did not
disappoint.
In the opening round of the ten-round
championship bout, Braekhus tried to imposed her will, using a
lively jab, in combination with a sharp and strong right hand to
score on Reis. The early rounds were close, but it seemed that
Braekhus was controlling the pace. However, in the sixth-round, Reis
garnered her "Native Warrior" strength, and took matters into her
own hands.
Page
last updated,
Monday February 3, 2014
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