FIRST LADY, FIGHTER FIRST
Cecilia Braekhus never intended to become anything more than a fighter. She ended up being much more. The list of accomplishments is absurdly robust: • First woman to become an undisputed champion. • Reigned as welterweight champion for more than 11 years and equaled Joe Louis’ record of 25 consecutive successful defenses. • The Ring Magazine’s first pound-for-pound queen. • First woman to fight on HBO. • Remained at or near the top of the rankings for almost two decades. • Led the movement to overturn a law banning boxing in her home country of Norway. • Only woman to headline a show there. • Won two world titles in a second division by defeating Ema Kozin at 44 years old in her final fight in October. Can you imagine a more impressive resume?
The great Braekhus ended her career as a unified world titleholder. Opposite page: She won her first two titles by beating Vinni Skovgaard in 2009.
“The First Lady” wasn’t perfect – after going 36-0, her record was marred by back-to- back losses to Jessica McCaskill during the COVID pandemic – but her achievements in and out of the ring are inspirational, particularly for the women who followed her. “Cecilia was one of the true pioneers in this sport,” Ring junior bantamweight champion and rising star Mizuki Hiruta said through a translator. “She showed the next generation that we can do it. She was a role model, an idol, and a hope for all female boxers. “She built out her own path in this world and kept going with faith in herself. I will keep running my own way like her to be called a legend one day.” Braekhus is a native of Colombia who was adopted at 2 by a Norwegian couple and grew up in the picturesque coastal town of Bergen, hardly
CECILIA BRAEKHUS LEAVES THE SPORT AS A PIONEERING CHAMPION, A FORCE FOR CHANGE AND AN INSPIRATION TO FUTURE GENERATIONS, BUT HER GOAL WAS ALWAYS A SIMPLE ONE By Michael Rosenthal
the environment for an aspiring young fighter. Yet it was there, at age 14 in the mid-1990s, that she entered combat sports against cultural norms and the will of her parents. An athletic girl, Braekhus had previously taken part in tough but nonviolent sports more common to the Scandinavian region – soccer, handball and skiing. Fighting? It’s one thing for boys to absorb physical punishment in the name of fun and games; it’s another for girls. Thus, it was no surprise that Braekhus’ father and mother
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