by Francisco Salazar
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, unified welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus will face Kali Reis in the opening bout of the HBO 'World Championship Boxing' telecast on May 5. The 10 round bout will take place at the Stubhub Center in Carson, California.
The fight will mark the first time HBO will broadcast a female fight live in its 45 years of airing boxing.
The Braekhus-Reis clash will precede the 12 round middleweight bout between Gennady Golovkin and Vanes Martirosyan. HBO was originally scheduled to air the Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez-Pedro Guevara fight, but Gonzalez reportedly was not able to secure a visa to travel from Nicaragua, which has seen a significant rise in political turmoil over the last several weeks.
Braekhus (32-0, 9 knockouts) will defend all her world title belts against Reis. May 5 will mark Braekhus' seventh time she will defend her undisputed welterweight title.
In her last bout on Oct. 21, Braekhus stopped Mikaela Lauren in the sixth round in Stokke, Norway, not far from has adopted hometown of Bergen.
The 36-year-old Braekhus has stopped two of her last four opponents.
Reis (13-6-1, 4 KOs) will move down in weight to face Braekhus, having fought three of her last four bouts as a middleweight.
The 36-year-old Reis, who resides in Providence, Rhode Island, has won six of her last seven bouts. Her only blemish in that stretch was a unanimous decision loss to middleweight titleholder Christina Hammer.
Reis also lost to Hammer by unanimous decision in May of 2015. Her most notable victory was a split decision victory over Maricela Cornejo in April of 2016.
Loeffler also told BoxingScene there is a possibility unbeaten junior middleweight Jaime Munguia may appear on the card. Munguia was a candidate to face Gennady Golovkin on May 5 in Las Vegas, but the Nevada Athletic Commission reportedly did not approve Munguia as an opponent for Golovkin.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
