What a way to bow out of the sport!
Cecilia Braekhus claimed the WBC and WBO super welterweight titles today in Lillestrom, Norway, retiring as promised in what was known to be the final fight of her 18-year professional career.
Braekhus, 44, won the pair of 154 lb belts on scores of 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92, improving to 39-2-1 (9 KO) for her career. The world titles were her first since losing the welterweight crown to Jessica McCaskill in 2020, and failing to regain the belts in a 2021 rematch.
Braekhus, who was born in Colombia and raised in Norway, won her first world title way back in 2009, when she took the WBC welterweight belt from Vinni Skovgaard in Germany. She would go on to dominate the division and become recognized as the top pound-for-pound women’s boxer for years, becoming known as the “First Lady” of the sport.
Her win over Kozin (24-2-1, 12 KO) sends her into retirement — if she sticks to it, this is boxing, after all — as a reigning world champion.
Kozin had beaten Hannah Rankin in November 2023 to win the two then-vacant titles, and hadn’t defended before this bout.
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