Although Cecilia Braekhus cannot be certain whether her career will end on a high note or in disappointment on Saturday, she is sure of at least two things.
One: she is sure that Saturday night’s fight against Ema Kozin, the WBC and WBO junior-middleweight champion, will be her last. Two: Braekhus is every bit as sure that the future of women’s boxing is in good hands and that her planned exit from the sport will present an opportunity for others to follow the path she has paved for them.
“Women’s boxing today is in great shape,” said Braekhus, one of women’s boxing’s true pioneers and a world champion for 11 years. “The women are fighting in the Olympics now, which gives them better teams, better trainers, and everything around them will be at a high level. The professional fights are incredible. There are many more promoters interested in it and a lot more money going into it. That was always the challenge before – promoters didn’t want to invest in women. Of course there is still a huge gap between women and men when it comes to pay, but we are in a much better place and are on the right path.
“There are so many amazing fighters now. I like to watch Caroline Dubois, she’s really fun, and of course Katie Taylor, although she might soon be retiring. I don’t know how many fights she has left. But the next generation coming through is incredible.”
Braekhus, a pro for 18 years, has witnessed the evolution of women’s boxing and experienced the changes first-hand. She has fought battles on behalf of others and has fought to create the opportunities for the women we see today. There have, in her career, been a total of 41 pro fights, but many more fights happened outside the ring.
“Everybody was telling me at that point that I would never be a champion because girls can’t be champions,” Braekhus, 38-2-1 (9 KOs), said. “Remember, this is a while ago. It was a very harsh critique, but this was before women could go to the Olympics, it was before the Me-Too movement, it was before women were allowed in boxing gyms to train alongside men. Some male trainers would refuse to train women. I had one trainer who didn’t want to train a woman. It was a very different time and atmosphere, but even then, I still knew I would be a champion one day.
“It just made me more determined. When people said that women shouldn’t box, it was so weird to me. Of course women can box. I had so many incredible women around me who went to the European championships, the World championships, and delivered fights at the highest level. All these women kind of paved the way for this current generation, who are all able to go to the Olympics and don’t have to deal with all the stupidity we had to deal with. I’m very proud of that.”
Braekhus’ next and final fight takes place at Nova Spektrum in Lillestrom, Norway. Both a homecoming and a swan song, Saturday’s fight gives the 44-year-old the opportunity to become a two-weight world champion and also offers her the chance to fight again in Norway, where she hasn’t fought since 2017.
Pro fights are of course rare in Braekhus’ home country and were even once banned for 33 years. However, the “First Lady” expects her compatriots to come out in large numbers and give her a good send-off on Saturday.
“It’s not like the same volume as a fight in England,” she explained. “This [professional boxing] is so rare in Norway that people don’t really know what’s happening. They’re like, ‘Where are we? What are we doing?’ There’s not a lot of fights here. But during my fights, when people are starting to get into it, and when I come to the ring, it’s pretty electric.”
Given this will be Braekhus’ final fight, the electricity at Nova Spektrum on Saturday night will be something to behold. There will be excitement, anticipation, and celebration, with only a tinge of sadness when it’s all over.
