Cecilia Carmen Linda Brækhus (born 28 September 1981) is a Colombian-born Norwegian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and former kickboxer. She reigned as the undisputed female

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

boxing champion from 2014 to 2020, and is the first woman in any weight class to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles simultaneously. Brækhus is also one of only 11 boxers in history, male or female, to hold all four major world titles simultaneously. She also held the IBO title from 2016 to 2020, and is currently the interim WBC super welterweight champion. In 2017, the

Boxing Writers Association of America Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a ...

named Brækhus their inaugural Female Fighter of the Year. ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' awarded her with three recognitions in 2018: the Longest Reigning Female Boxing Champion, the Longest Reign as a Four-Belt Undisputed Boxing Champion, and the Most Bouts Undefeated by a Female World Champion Boxer. Brækhus held the WBC and WBA titles for 11 years and 154 days between 14 March 2009 and 15 August 2020. As of December 2023, she is ranked as the world's best active female super welterweight by

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and the fifth best active female junior middleweight by ''The Ring''.

Early life

Born in Cartagena, Colombia, Brækhus was adopted as a two-year-old by Norwegian parents and raised in Sandviken,

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

.Profile/Blog Blog
at ''TV2blogg.no'' She started

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

at the age of fourteen and soon began competing in amateur boxing competitions, achieving an amateur record of 75–5 before turning professional.

Kickboxing career (semi-contact)

* 2003 WAKO World Champion, Semi Contact 65 kg * 2002 WAKO Euro Champion, Semi Contact 65 kg * 3 National Championships * 2 H.M. The King's Trophy

Amateur boxing career

Brækhus fought 80 matches and won 75 of them. * Silver medal at the 2005 World Championships * Gold medal at the 2005 European Championships * Silver medal at the 2004 European Championships

Professional boxing career

In November 2007, Brækhus signed a pro contract with German promoter Wilfried Sauerland, who announced his intention of making her the first Norwegian female World Champion. Her first fight was against

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n boxer Ksenija Koprek on 20 January 2007. On 14 March 2009, she became the WBC World Champion in

against Danish boxer Vinni Skovgaard and also claimed the vacant WBA female welterweight title. Brækhus successfully defended her titles on later that year on 30 May against Amy Yuratovac in Helsinki, Finland, and on 12 September 2009, against Lucia Morelli in Herning, Denmark. Eight months later, on 15 May 2010, Brækhus successfully defended her WBA and WBC titles against American boxer Victoria Cisneros in Herning, Denmark, while winning the WBO title. In a unanimous decision, the judges declared the fight for Brækhus, having won all 10 rounds. On 30 October 2010, Brækhus successfully defended her WBA, WBC and WBO titles in Rostock, Germany against Mikaela Laurén from Sweden, while winning the World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) title. Brækhus won by knockout in the 7th round. In 2010, Brækhus was voted the "Female Boxer of the Year" by German boxing magazine ''BoxSport''. On 14 September 2014, after defeating Croatian Ivana Habazin, Brækhus became the first Norwegian and the first woman to hold all major world championship belts in her weight division (welterweight) in boxing history. On 5 May 2018,

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broadcast its first women's bout, between Brækhus and Kali Reis, where Brækhus successfully defended her titles. Brækhus lost her titles to Jessica McCaskill by majority decision in a contest staged in

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on 15 August 2020. A rematch in

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on 13 March 2021 saw McCaskill take a unanimous decision win. Brækhus claimed the vacant interim WBC female

super-welterweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF o ...

title with a unanimous decision win over Maricela Cornejo in

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on 10 August 2024.

Professional boxing record

Notes

References

External links

*
Cecilia Brækhus profile
a
Awakening Fighters
at Women Boxing Archive Network , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Braekhus, Cecilia 1981 births Living people Norwegian women boxers Colombian emigrants to Norway Norwegian adoptees Sportspeople from Bergen Boxers from Cartagena, Colombia Welterweight boxers Norwegian female kickboxers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Organization champions International Boxing Organization champions Light-welterweight boxers World welterweight boxing champions Norwegian people of Colombian descent AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists 21st-century Norwegian sportswomen Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Germany