Cecilia Brækhus

Cecilia Brækhus is a Norwegian professional boxer and former undisputed world champion in women’s welterweight. She held the division’s four major world titles simultaneously.

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Undisputed championship: A championship status held by a fighter who simultaneously possesses all major recognized titles in a division. Brækhus became the first woman to hold all four major welterweight titles at once.
Women’s boxing: The sport of boxing contested by women, governed by professional and amateur rules. Brækhus became a prominent figure during women’s boxing’s growing mainstream visibility.
Jessica McCaskill: An American professional boxer who defeated Cecilia Brækhus in 2020 to become undisputed welterweight champion. McCaskill ended Brækhus’s title reign and succeeded her as the division’s undisputed champion.
Katie Taylor: An Irish professional boxer and Olympic champion who became undisputed champion in multiple weight divisions. Taylor’s rise provides a parallel example of a woman achieving undisputed status across boxing divisions.
Cecilia Brækhus vs. Anne Sophie Mathis: A 2012 boxing match in which Cecilia Brækhus defeated Anne Sophie Mathis by unanimous decision. The victory helped Brækhus establish herself as the leading welterweight champion.
Women’s boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics: The first Olympic tournament to include women’s boxing, held in London in 2012. Olympic inclusion and Brækhus’s professional success helped raise the sport’s profile in the same period.
Anne Sophie Mathis: A French professional boxer and former world champion who fought Cecilia Brækhus in 2012. Mathis’s challenge became one of the defining early tests of Brækhus’s championship career.
Laila Ali: An American former professional boxer who retired undefeated and held world titles in two weight classes. Ali’s earlier celebrity and title reigns show a different route to visibility for women boxers.
Cecilia Brækhus vs. Kali Reis: A 2018 boxing match in which Cecilia Brækhus defeated Kali Reis by majority decision. The bout was the first women’s boxing match shown on HBO.
HBO Boxing: HBO’s televised boxing programming, which aired major professional fights from 1973 to 2018. Brækhus’s 2018 bout against Kali Reis marked HBO’s first broadcast of a women’s boxing match.