Jessica McCaskill vs Cecilia Braekhus II
By David A. Avila
Chicago’s Jessica McCaskill attempts to prove to skeptics that toppling Norway’s Cecilia Braekhus for the undisputed welterweight crown was not merely a bad dream but a nightmare to be repeated.
“I’m so ready to punch Cecilia in the face,” said McCaskill. “There’s no bad blood, but we want this for boxing so bad.”
Midwest tough McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs) once again meets the taller former champion Braekhus (36-1, 9 KOs) for the WBA, WBO, WBC, IBO and IBF welterweight titles at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas on Saturday March 13. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
The last time the duo met was in the blasting heat of summer and McCaskill bulldogged her way to victory over Braekhus by majority decision. Though McCaskill was a unified super lightweight champion, the win over Braekhus sent shockwaves throughout the world. It was Braekhus first ever loss as a professional spanning 13 years.
Braekhus soon announced her retirement then reconsidered and here we are again.
“Once someone shows that weakness, shows they are not in it and alludes to retirement, that shows that they are mentally out of the game,” said McCaskill who is both African-American and Mexican-American.
Behind a well-planned strategy, McCaskill bludgeoned her way inside the long reach of Braekhus and remained tucked nose-to-nose fighting an inside war with the Norwegian champion. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective.
Most European fighters prefer fighting at a distance. When an opponent attempts to fight in close the tactic often used to defend is the clinch, and lots of clinches. McCaskill was prepared for clinches and refused to be held.
Refusing to quit, Braekhus rallied and used her vast array of fighting skills to regain lost ground. But after 10 rounds the scores read in favor of McCaskill.
Braekhus returned to Big Bear, California to prepare for this rematch. It’s been seven months since her loss to McCaskill and she wants her titles back.
“I know I am a better fighter than Jessica, I had a bit of an off day, but I feel I did what I needed to do to retain my belts, but I was not at home I was on her home turf and she got the belts,” said Braekhus, 39, during a conference call in February.
The new undisputed welterweight champion McCaskill still has that hunger and is eager to prove she can do it again.
McCaskill’s road
Despite a very short amateur career and with only six pro bouts, McCaskill challenged the mighty KatieVictoria Cisneros, Anne Sophie Mathis, Taylor. In their clash the Chicago-based fighter became the first opponent to actually win rounds according to the judges from the Olympic gold medalist.
In McCaskill’s very next fight she accepted a match against super lightweight titlist Erica Farias of Argentina. McCaskill dominated the former pound for pound fighter to win convincingly. She then accepted a challenge from another Argentine fighter with a world title and took her title too.
When she challenged for the undisputed welterweight championship last August, she only had 10 total pro fights and a handful of amateur bouts in experience.
“We have just had to get those opportunities to show everyone else what we can do,” said McCaskill, 36, at the press conference. “Every time I have had to fight for a belt, it’s been from a champion, Cecilia, you have fought for vacant titles, I’ve had to take mine from everyone I fought from, I’ve never just fought for a vacant title,”
First undisputed
Braekhus began her pro career in 2007 and did not lose a single bout until last year. During that span she picked up the vacant WBC and WBA welterweight world titles with a win over Vinni Skovgaard in Germany in 2009. The next year she defeated Victoria Cisneros by decision for the WBO version in Denmark. And in 2015 she defeated Ivana Habazin for the IBF title. She added the IBO version in 2016 with a win over Chris Namus and became the first woman to ever be undisputed welterweight world champion.
Perhaps her greatest accomplishment was opening up her own country Norway to accept professional boxing. That country had long banned boxing until Braekhus broke down those barriers when she hosted a fight in 2016 and knocked out Anne Sophie Mathis in the second round in Oslo. Not since 1981 had Norway hosted a boxing event until Braekhus’ accomplishments forced the doors open. It was an amazing feat.
Now Braekhus attempts to regain the undisputed world championship.
“You know, it’s fun for me, I just want to get the belt back and McCaskill has kept me very motivated, she’s kept me motivated through my whole camp,” said Braekhus who trained in Big Bear, California. “I am a much better fighter, boxer. I’m much better technically and stronger so I’m very confident going into this fight. And like I said, she provided me with a lot of motivation in camp.”
On Saturday, the two meet again to determine if the first encounter was a fluke or a true changing of the guard.
“It is going to be the best fight of the night,” promises McCaskill.
(Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing)