Uruguay’s Chris Namus deserves credit for trying to make a fight of it against Cecilia Braekhus. Braekhus lived up to expectations as the “First lady” put on a strong display in her first fight in 15 months.

The fight was Saturday, February 27th at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany and the fight aired on RTL in that country. The fight was the co-feature of a card headlined by Marco Huck vs Ola Afolabi and was easily the biggest stage ever for the 34 year old Braekhus, who is now 28-0 and holds every major world title at welterweight. This was her 17th succesful defense of the WBC belt he title she has held the longest.

Braekhus started the fight tentatively, and really Namus had her best round in the opener. Braekhus started to pick up the pace in the second round. Namus continued to stalk and come forward, but Braekhus had her combination punching looking very sharp and accurate, andshe spent the entire fight landing hard punches. Not known for her power, Braekhus did show off her technique. Namus was game and she is a very good fighter in her own right, but here she was just outclassed.

As she sat in her corner before going out for the last round, Namus’ corner could be heard telling their fighter in Spanish that she should be proud of her performance. Namus too was fighting on what was by far the biggest stage of her career, ans she showed a lot of heart and guts. She kept a high pace throughout the fight, not withering under the barrage from Braekhus. Braekhus too showed excellent conditioning, and the tenth round saw both fighters try to close strong.

When the bell sounded, there were no surprises as all three judges had the fight for Cecilia Braekhus, giving her every round with identical scores of 100-90.

Cecilia Braekhus is finally back. Though she just fought, the long layoff prior cost her some attention and exposure. With women’s boxing more and more in the main stream, a run of activity could be what Braekhus needs to maintain momentum. This last fight shows that at 34 years old, she is still in her prime and a dynamic fighter to watch.