(NOV 3) On Saturday, in Rostock, Germany, The defending champion, Cecilia Brækhus, 146½, (14-0-0) faced Mikaela Lauren of Sweden, 144¾, (6-0-0). 34 year old Lauren, a former top class swimmer, took up boxing fairly recently. She had a brief amateur career and changed to the pro ranks in 2009, debuting in April of that year.

Considering Brækhus' CV of 4 years pro experience, 18 months or those as world champion, and a very impressive amateur record of 70 wins in 80 bouts, 1 European championship and a World championship silver medal; it seemed very ambitious of Lauren to challenge the world champion this early in her career.

It soon became evident, that the challenger had bitten off, more than she could chew. Lauren depended on her punching power, but she never got the opportunity to use it against a much swifter, and skilled Norwegian Champion.

Brækhus had little difficulty in getting through with her combination, and punished the slow, rigid Lauren, with her body work and some telling punches to the head. Brækhus seem to be able to get through Lauren's defence almost at will, and as the fight progressed it became evident that the Swedish challenger was completely overmatched.

The end came in the 7th round. Brækhus ended the fight with 3 hard uppercuts and a left hook that sent Lauren to the canvas. The Swede managed to get back on her feet on the count of eight, but the referee had seen enough and rightly saved Lauren from further punishment by stopping the fight.

The challenger absorbed a lot of clean punches, and showed a lot of guts staying in there, but was never able to threaten Brækhus. She still has a lot of work to do in the gym, and need much more experience before it taking on the world class boxers.

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