Boxing history was made in Copenhagen, Denmark last night. Norwegian star Cecilia Brækhus (26-0, 7 KOs) became the first female boxer to unify a division by holding all four major titles simultaneously. The WBC, WBA & WBO Champion scored a unanimous decision victory over IBF Champion Ivana Habazin (13-2, 5 KOs) to become the undisputed welterweight queen.
Cheered on by her loyal army of travelling Norwegian fans, Brækhus once again proved why she is the pound-for-pound female number one with a classy performance against the tenacious Habazin. All three judges scored the fight 100-90 in favour of ‘The First Lady’.
‘’I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time,’’ said Brækhus. ‘’To become the first female boxer to unify a division is a huge achievement and something that I am extremely proud of. I would like to thank all the fans that travelled to Copenhagen to support me and Ivana for the part she played in this historic fight.’’
Said promoter Nisse Sauerland: ‘’Cecilia is a phenomenal athlete. Not only will she go down in history as the first female unified champion but it is our belief that she will be remembered as the greatest female boxer of all time.’’
Brækhus’ success was shared by Swedish stablemates Klara Svensson and Erik Skoglund, both of whom claimed titles at Team Sauerland’s Nordic Fight Night show.
‘The Swedish Princess’ Klara Svensson (14-0, 5 KOs) got her first taste of world glory. The 26 year-old from Malmo defeated Marie Riederer (15-2-1, 10 KOs) for the interim WBC Female World Light Welterweight title. The judges scored the fight 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91 for Svensson.
‘’This was the best performance of my career so far,’’ said Svensson. ‘’Riederer was very tough, I hit her with some big shots and she kept coming. Tonight I have shown that I belong at the top with the world’s elite and I’m ready to challenge for the regular title.’’
Light heavyweight Erik Skoglund (21-0, 11 KOs) continued his climb up the world rankings. The European (EU) and WBC Youth Champion added the IBF Intercontinental crown to his collection with a dominant display against Stefano Abatangelo (18-4-1, 6 KOs). After twelve rounds of action Skoglund was ahead 118-109, 120-106 and 118-108.
‘’Abatangelo gave all that he had but I never felt like I was in trouble,’’ said the young boxer from Nyköping. ‘’This was another step up and a good test to prepare me for the bigger challenges ahead. The atmosphere in Copenhagen was electric and I want to thank all the fans for coming to support me.’’
Said promoter Nisse Sauerland: ‘’Sweden is becoming a hot bed of boxing talent with our young stars leading the way. Klara showed guts and determination befitting of a world champion, while Erik’s potential, at just 23 years old, is frightening.’’
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
