By Thomas Gerbasi
The “First Lady” has returned. Out of the ring since November of 2014, Norway’s Cecilia Braekhus will be back in action this Saturday to defend her five welterweight titles against Uruguay’s Chris Namus in Germany.
It’s the beginning of a new chapter for the women’s pound-for-pound queen, and the close of a 2015 campaign that even Braekhus finds difficult to put into words.
“2015 is hard to describe,” she said. “There were so many ups and downs and so many different levels emotionally.”
Last year, the stage was set for the 34-year-old to not just fight and defend all her belts, but to start making inroads to stardom beyond what she already enjoys in Europe. A partnership with KMG and K2 Promotions that was announced in April was going to be the beginning. But after healing up a foot broken in three places in her 2014 win over Jennifer Retzke and getting a spot on the Wladimir Klitschko-Tyson Fury card, another injury scrapped that bout.
“With the operation part and everything around that, it could be good, but it also was a risk for it to happen where I would never be able to box again,” she said. “There were a lot of emotions around that. And doing the cooperation with K2 Promotions, of course that was something that really motivated me to get back in shape and fight, and when I did, I was so unlucky because I got a small injury and was not able to fight on the Klitschko show. That was absolutely heartbreaking because it was one of the biggest windows for a fighter like me to show myself internationally.”
Now working with Klitschko trainer Johnathon Banks as well, Braekhus couldn’t hide her disappointment after seeing her big chance get temporarily put on hold. That’s when the longtime heavyweight champ stepped in.
“I was so sad,” Braekhus recalled. “I was just going around there in camp and making everybody miserable, and then Wladimir told me ‘you know what, this door closed, and other doors will open.’ And I thought about it, and it’s so true. That’s exactly what’s happening.”
Ecstatic about her return, Braekhus is all smiles and laughs these days, and while some would be cautiously optimistic at a time like this, cautious is not even a word in her vocabulary at the moment.
“This (coming back) feels absolutely amazing, especially when you’ve worked so hard to get back and got a little bit unlucky on the way,” she said. “So to finally be so close, I’m just crossing my fingers now that nothing happens. (Laughs) I’m healthy, I’m in great shape, so I can’t see any other scenario than me getting in the ring and defending my belt. And I’m really looking forward to it.”
Namus, 21-3, 1 ND as a pro, has won five straight leading up to her fourth world title opportunity, and while Braekhus is taking her seriously, not many expect the challenger to leave Germany with the belt. What people are really looking at is how the first fight with the K2 and KMG teams go, and where they can lead Braekhus in the future. And when it comes to breaking a fighter – see Gennady Golovkin - having Klitschko in her corner is not a bad thing at all.
“He’s a living legend and I’m a huge fan of him – not only what he’s done inside the ring, but also what he has achieved outside and the way he’s built his name,” Braekhus said. “But I also have to maintain my own identity in all this because I cannot only be the girl who signed to K2 Promotions. In my hometown and in Europe, it’s a little bit easier, but outside I have to still try to keep my own identity and, being a girl, at the same time I’m also representing female boxing. And on top of that, in my home country, where professional boxing was banned until last year, I’ve also been the most well-known boxer, so I have to represent the sport of boxing in Norway.”
After all that, she laughs, knowing how bizarre it sounds for one fighter to have so many things going on that have little to do with what happens in the ring – and everything to do with what happens in the ring - all at the same time.
“It’s a very crazy situation, and I think the most important thing in all this is that I have to keep my identity, be myself and be the same person who started boxing because of the love of it.”
That love of the game has carried her through 27 fights and 27 wins, and sent her soaring to the top of the pound-for-pound list. In the welterweight division, she owns all the hardware, and we may not have even seen her at her best yet. Add in a pleasing personality, Hollywood looks and a winning smile, and Braekhus may be the woman to take women’s boxing to a new level in the United States. Easier said than done.
“I think it’s actually the same with the male boxers,” she said. “You have to be a terrific fighter with that something extra, and that’s very hard to find. And with female boxing, it’s even harder because we often get pushed in the back, and the guys are pushed in front. So it’s even harder to find this diamond in the rough. Everybody knows that boxing is a tough sport for both men and women, outside the ring and inside the ring, and there are so few who are really making it. But for women, it’s double hard because we’re really not given the chance by many promoters.”
Can Braekhus get there? Maybe not alone, but she’s going to make herself heard until someone listens.
“I cannot change the scene alone, because we need the promoters and we need the support because there are so many girls that are brilliant and they just don’t get any backup and support,” she said. “The TV networks have to show their interest, then the promoters will come, and it’s a circle, but somebody has to start – they have to put their foot down and say ‘this is ridiculous. We have to give girls an equal chance.’”
It’s one the ladies have deserved for a long time. Hopefully 2016 is the year, and in a perfect world, Braekhus has the next ten months already planned out.
“In a perfect world, I will defend my belt in Germany, and then I want to fight in America and then I will end the year by fighting in my home country (of Norway) for the first time since the (professional boxing) ban was put in place in 1981 before a huge crowd.”
The First Lady has spoken.
