Cecilia Braekhus pulled herself out on the morning of her scheduled world title fight with Terri Harper this past May due to flu. The bout was set to take place on the Katie Taylor Vs Chantelle Cameron undercard in Dublin.
Braekhus (37-2, 9 KOs) was due to challenge Harper for her WBA super welterweight world belt in the hope of becoming a two-weight world champion in twilight of a career that saw The First Lady rule female boxing for over a decade. Harper ended up defending her title just a week later defeating former world champion Ivana Habazin over the distance in Manchester.
ProBox TV spoke exclusively to Braekhus’s promoter Tom Loeffler to discuss her return.
“That was really unfortunate, that was a strange situation.” Loeffler said of Braehkus’s recent cancellation. “She had been training in London prior to the fight, the we want over to Dublin. Dublin is a great city, I look forward to going back there. But everything was great, she had excellent preparation during fight week, her weight was good. She made the weight at the weight-in, everything was fine. Then she woke up literally the day of the fight and had the full blown flu, couldn’t breath, her nose and ears, everything was closed up. If it was just a cold, a sore throat or something like that, I’m sure she would have fought. However, she couldn’t get out of bed for three days after, it was a very unfortunate situation for everyone timing wise. Luckily Terri Harper was able to fight a week later and to defend her title. Now we just look to reschedule that fight, whenever Matchroom has a date.”
At 41 years old Braekhus does not have an abundance of time on her side, but her name still sits with the elite in the sport despite just two fights in over three years.
“There was a lot of build up for that fight.” Loeffler added. “Cecilia being the legendary veteran fighter having accomplished so much going up against the younger up and coming champion, the fight offered so much. The chance to move up a weight and win another title on a huge event in Dublin excited Cecilia. We will have to wait and see what is happening. She is completely recovered now, a week later she was all better, she is ready to go and get back in the ring. However, naturally she will have to wait her turn and we will have to wait and see when Matchroom can reschedule that fight.”
