Having dominated the welterweight division for 11 years, Cecilia Brækhus wants to break down more barriers in women’s boxing and is targeting a fight in the UK.
If Brækhus (36-0, 9 KOs) defeats Jessica McCaskill when boxing returns, victory will see the Norwegian break Joe Louis’ record of 25 consecutive world title defences. The 38-year-old’s proud record stretches back to her first world title fight in March 2009.
Brækhus’ hunger and ambition remain undiminished. Having changed the face of the sport in her home country, Brækhus still has further goals to realise in her impressive career.
“From when I started to now has been incredible for women’s boxing,” Brækhus told Chris Lloyd in the latest episode of Matchroom Boxing’s Podcast ‘The Lockdown Tapes’.
“[Women] are on every show, headlining bills, fighting in the Olympics and it’s incredible and such a big difference from how it once was. Being a part of it makes me feel incredibly lucky and I feel, when I retire, I will be able to say I have played my part.
“I am talking to Eddie Hearn and my team and following the guidelines. The McCaskill fight looks likely to be taking place in July and I am hoping this is the case as I can’t stay in Big Bear forever! I don’t care where the fight takes place because I have been fighting all over the world since the beginning of my career. Wherever the fight is, I will be ready.
“I would love to fight in the UK. I went to Joshua vs Klitschko and I still get goosebumps thinking about it,” she said. “Even though there were 90,000 people watching, the fight overshadowed everything, it was amazing.
“I became a world champion and had a bigger media profile. People would watch my fights in both Germany and Denmark because I couldn’t box in Norway and they started questioning how strange it was to have a world champion who couldn’t fight in their home country. It was on live TV in Norway so people began coming to conclusions that this law was crazy!
“When the new government came in, we began to work together,” she continued. “My team, my team in Norway and the politicians began to analyse things and, when we broke the sport down, we found out that a lot of the arguments making the sport illegal were out of date.
“I was actually voted ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ in Norway when professional boxing was illegal! It was a crazy situation.
“I think about life after boxing a lot and the good thing is that athletes can go on for longer due to the improvements in sports science, training and nutrition! Age isn’t a massive concern for me yet, but I am working hard on some other big projects which are keeping me busy.”