Braekhus-McCaskill Welterweight Fight Set For April
One of the top female fighters today will face off for all the gold on April 17. Taking place inside the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Cecilia Braekhus will take on Jessica McCaskill. On the line will be Braekhus’ WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring Welterweight Titles.
“This is a fantastic fight on what is going to be another brilliant night of boxing on DAZN,” Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn stated. “Cecilia is one of the greatest female fighters of all time and still the ‘First Lady’ has huge ambitions to achieve even more greatness in the sport.
“But what a breakthrough star Jessica has become since landing her World title in Chicago – it’s been a fairytale rise and she wants to go onto achieve greatness like her foe in Maryland. Jessica always brings it on the night and victory over
Considered the best female fighter today, Braekhus (36-0) first tasted welterweight gold in 2009. In her eleventh professional fight, “The First Lady” beat Vinni Skovgaard via unanimous decision for the WBA and WBC Welterweight Titles. From there, she won the WBO belt against Victoria Cisneros, the IBF belt from Ivana Habazin and the IBO belt from Chris Namus. Her last bout was a unanimous decision win over Victoria Bustos back in November.
There are a few fights to make for Braekhus if she were to win the bout. She could face the winner of the planned Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano bout, or the silver medalist could face Claressa Shields.
“I’m very excited to battle Jessica McCaskill on April 17,” said Braekhus. “She is a unified World champion and a formidable opponent for me. However, following my victory in November I only took a short time off from training and will be well prepared for this very tough challenge.
For McCaskill, this is a major step-up in competition. The WBA and WBC Super-Lightweight Champion is on a three-fight win streak, beating Erica Farias back in October via majority decision. She first fought Farias back in 2018, winning the WBC belt. The loss before the wins came against Taylor back in 2017. The 35-year-old has been hoping for a Taylor rematch down the line, but she also had Braekhus on her mind. A win against Braekhus could bring her closer to that goal.
“This is a fight I wanted,” said McCaskill. “I want to fight the biggest names and the best fighters. Nothing less. My name is up there with the best in female history and I want to continue on that path. Every time I fight its exciting and not only for female boxing but for boxing – period.”
The fight between the two champions will be on the undercard of the catchweight clash between Regis Prograis and Maurice Hooker.