(SEPT 14) Las Vegas,
Nevada---Undisputed Women’s Welterweight World Champion ‘The
First Lady’ Cecilia Braekhus, (34-0-0, 9 KO’s) was honored on
Thursday afternoon, September 13 with a presentation of THE RING
Magazine’s Women’s #1 Pound-for-Pound Title Belt.
The presentation of the first
belt of its kind was made by RING Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief
Doug Fischer in the Media Center for the World Middleweight
Championship clash between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady
‘GGG’ Golovkin.
“This is one of my biggest
dreams, a dream I was never really able to believe would be
true,” said Braekhus. “I remember watching Muhammed Ali with his
Ring belt, and I was wondering whether a female fighter would
carry his belt. I never dreamt I would be the one, and the first
one.”
“I am so happy and proud, and this is one of my biggest moments
in boxing. I will do my best to prove that I am the best female
fighter in the world and honor this belt,” said Braekhus.
“Right now, it’s just about having fun, and enjoying myself,”
she explained. “I have nothing left to prove. So, I’m trying to
see how hard I can push it.” Braekhus says she’s open to moving
up in weight to create new opportunities and see what’s out
there. “Absolutely. That’s what it’s all about now.”
Stated Fischer, “This is an overdue belt, I don’t even want to
hold it anymore,” said Fischer, as he handed the hardware to
Braekhus. “Cecilia has been a vanguard in women’s boxing. This
is not going to be the first Ring Championship title we award to
a female fighter. She is the first because she is the most
accomplished out there.”
“If you see her fight, you don’t think, oh, she’s good for a
woman. She’s just amazing. She’s a vanguard, a pioneer. As a
female fighter, if you have dreams of turning pro, if you dream
about being an undisputed champion, you look at her,” said
Fischer.
“Promoters are realizing they’re easy to work with,” said
Fischer of women’s professional boxers. “They aren’t divas.
They’re not asking you to break into Fort Knox. The ratings are
good and they sell tickets. You’d be a fool not to (book them).
It’s going to normalize it, it’s not going to be a sideshow like
20 years ago,” added Fischer.
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On January 5, 2018, Braekhus was named by the Boxing Writers
Association of America (BWAA) as the First Female Fighter of the
Year for 2017, a campaign which featured three sensational
performances in her native Norway. The presentation of the award
took place on Friday, May 11, 2018 in New York City at the
association’s annual awards dinner.
On May 5, 2018, Braekhus was featured in the first women’s bout
telecast in the storied history of HBO’s World Championship
Boxing winning a 10-round decision over Kali Reis. Her victory
from the iconic Stubhub Center in Carson, CA averaged an
extraordinary 904,000 viewers in the live telecast on HBO.
In their inaugural member poll for the Women’s Pound-for-Pound
List, the BWAA’s announced on June 26, 2018 that Braekhus was
voted the #1 Pound-for-Pound Women’s Fighter in the World.
Fighting for the first time in Moscow, Russia, Braekhus won a
10-round decision over WBC Interim Junior Middleweight Champion
Inna Sagaydakovskya on July 21, 2018 at the Olympic Stadium.
Braekhus has been the Undisputed Women’s Welterweight World
Champion since September 2014. Trained by the renowned Johnathon
Banks, she is the holder of the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO
Welterweight World Titles.
