Will Cecilia Braekhus Ever Fight Again?
When “First Lady’ Cecilia Braekhus (36-1, 9 KO’s) lost to Jessica “CasKILLA” McCaskill (9-2, 3 KO’s) she lost an awful lot. The proud ambassador of the sport watched her undefeated record, undisputed status, 5 world titles and chance to break heavyweight champion Joe Louis’ long standing title defense record all vanish. Not to mention this took place in the twilight of her career.
When the cards were initially read and her professional reality was obliterated, Braekhus took it on the chin like a true champion. The native Columbian displayed an emotional beard that would’ve made Oliver McCall proud. From the very moment that she knew that McCaskill was the victor, she smiled, clapped and gave CasKILLA her just due.
There literally was no way to demonstrate more class than she did with her post-fight reactions.
ALL CLASS
Outside the ring, while conducting her formal post-fight interview, the notion of her potential retirement came up. When asked what was the likelihood of her retiring, the First Lady gave absolutely zero indication that she was coming back.
True, she never said that she was retiring either. However, when she was revealing her present state of mind, it was evident that the rigors of the sport were heavily weighing upon her.
“I just want to congratulate Jessica, she really wanted it. She did a great match and I am proud and happy to pass the torch to her. And I have to say I don’t know what is going to happen right now, but I am so incredibly proud to be a part of women’s boxing right now.”
“And if this is my last fight, I can leave women’s boxing and just say that I was a apart of this. I was a part of taking boxing to this level and that will be my biggest achievement of all.”
“…I’ve done so much and I miss my friends, my family, you know women’s boxing is just in an amazing place right now. They’ll be fine without me.”
WHAT NOW?
It will be very interesting to see what Braekhus does next. Given that this was her first defeat in a 13 year career, it is not out of the question to believe that Braekhus was being overly rash. Prior to the dust-up with McCaskill, the First Lady was ready to take on the Katie Taylor v Delfine Persoon winner.
Said to say, retirement was not on the tip of her tongue before the bout. So, after calming down in a quiet setting, it’s very probable that Braekhus will think about the matter differently. Also, with all her grand accomplishments and long reign of dominance, it’s hard to fathom that the First Lady would leave the game on a loss.
The bout was razor thin, so it wasn’t as if Braekhus got destroyed. She could easily come back, but will she? Only time will tell.
By: Bakari Simpson
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