Cecilia Braekhus was on the verge of breaking the record for most consecutive title defenses set by Joe Louis heading into her fight with Jessica McCaskill in August.
McCaskill had other plans in mind, defeating Braekhus by majority decision to hand "The First Lady" her first professional loss and becoming the undisputed women's welterweight champion. Not wanting to take an interim fight, Braekhus invoked her rematch clause and takes on McCaskill Saturday night from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, live on DAZN.
Days before Braekhus (36-0, 9 KOs) attempts to reclaim her belts, she spoke to DAZN News about why she felt like she lost to McCaskill, feeling like she did enough to win, the rematch being the most personal contest of her career.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN News: How excited are you at the opportunity to get the belts back?
Cecilia Braekhus: I'm very ready to get my belts back. I think on Saturday, I just want to right that wrong. I've been thinking about this since the last fight.
DN: When you look back at everything and you rewatch the fight, where do you feel things went wrong for you in August?
CB: I think it was more leading up to the fight. I was struggling a little bit with guilt. I had six months in Big Bear because of the pandemic. I was stuck there. My family and friends were all home. So as an athlete, you always will struggle a little bit with thoughts like that. But in this situation is very real and very emotional. Being that far away from home over such a long time, my head was not exactly in the right place, unfortunately. This is a completely different camp. I've been at Big Bear for seven weeks. I'm having fun boxing. I do what I love to do. I'm just happy. I'm looking forward to Saturday.
DN: A lot of fans base losses strictly on performance. Why do you think people don't take the mental side of things more seriously because the mental aspect, in all honesty, is more important than the physical attributes that you're bringing to the ring?
CB: Definitely. It's everything. I even have close friends who cannot understand totally what's going on, what we're doing, how intense it is, what kind of choices you have to make, and how hard these choices are. You never have the blueprint. Being an athlete is a tough profession.
DN: When you look at the first fight, it was a tale of two fights. It was Jessica's tempo, her aggression, in the first half of the fight, and in the latter half, you were able to come on at the end. Did you see the same things in the fight, or did you feel you had control the majority of the fight and you should have gotten the victory?
CB: I felt I did what I needed to do to keep my belt. I felt I edged it. It was a close fight. I felt I edged it. A lot of people thought it was a draw. Still, I think I shouldn't have lost my belts that night. I haven't focused on that. I'm just focusing forward on my task, my training, and what I'm supposed to do on Saturday.
DN: There were people after the fight that thought maybe you underestimated her just because of everything you've done because when she's gotten in the big fight, she hasn't been able to pull through. Is there anything to that where maybe you underestimated her just a little bit?
CB: No. I never underestimate my opponent. That's why I have been a champion for such a long time. It had nothing to do with that. It had nothing to do with her trash talk, which she and her coach were doing. All her lame mind games had nothing to do with anything. It was a very special situation for me. I dealt with a lot of other feelings and the situation at that time, which I have been free from now. It's a completely different situation.
DN: Going into your previous fights, it's always cordial, and everything's always very respectful. This time around, it seems like you guys have really been getting at each other, and you're both giving under each other's skin. Is this the most intense fight that you've ever had, as it seems like you two really just don't like each other too much?
CB: For me, I don't trash talk normally. It just doesn't interest me. But she's been trash-talking. It didn't even take 24 hours after our last fight before she started talking bad about me. She just needs to know that 'Okay, you and your lame trash talking, it's not going home here.' Otherwise, I don’t have to be interested to be in that, but if they can build up the fight then fine. Otherwise, I don't think about trash talking. That's not what I want to do in interviews. I don't have this strategy the way Jessica and Rick Ramos (McCaskill's head trainer) have about that because it's just miserable, and I don't want to be miserable.
DN: A lot was made going into the Claressa Shields fight last weekend, considering the struggle she had for anyone to pick up her fight, and her promoter put it on pay-per-view. Why do you think it's been such a struggle for women to get prominent spots in boxing to where you look at the women in the high profile positions like you, Jessica, and Claressa to get the credit that they do deserve when you're better than some of the males being put in prominent PPV positions?
CB: This is a good question. I think this is old habits in boxing that is so stuck (and) is so rooted. It was also pretty much established in amateur boxing too because it took over 100 years before women were allowed to do amateur boxing. I think it takes some time to turn it (around). I think it's good what's happening now. We definitely have a job to do. I think it's easier for UFC because it was new. There's a lot of people with very old views. There's a lot of people in boxing with very old views, and I think UFC, they're new (and) they didn't have that. They just promoted women the same way as the guys pretty quickly and you see the success they (have).
DN: How do you beat Jessica McCaskill and again become the undisputed women's welterweight champion?
CB: I just have to be me. Just box away. I box because I'm better than her. No doubt. I'm just more talented. I just need to go in the ring, and I just need to do my thing, and I will win because I'm better than her.