Jessica McCaskill and Cecilia Braekhus traded verbal blows ahead of their world welterweight title fight on Saturday March 13.
The clash will be shown across the world on DAZN, and will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
McCaskill and Braekhus met in August 2020 as the American took the Norwegian’s belts and her unbeaten record. The rematch gives Braekhus the chance to reclaim the titles, if not an unblemished record.
At a virtual press conference, tensions threatened to boil over under questioning.
“I feel the last fight was the last one of her career,” said McCaskill. “Once someone shows that weakness, shows they are not in it and alludes to retirement, that shows that they are mentally out of the game.
“We’ve never been given a whole lot, we’ve taken really big risks and they have gotten us to those higher places, I haven’t been given anything, I don’t want to take on anyone else’s legacy, I’m building my own and making history every step of the day and that’s what I want to continue to do.
“I feel great - every time I have had to fight for a belt, it’s been from a champion. Cecilia, you have fought for vacant titles, I’ve had to take mine from everyone I fought from, I’ve never just fought for a vacant title and it’s heads or tails on who is going to win it.
“I’m not saying I don’t get the credit for my last fight, but over the time that I’ve fought and the different hurdles that I have crossed, that’s what I don’t think I get the credit for, that’s not to make excuses. Everything I say is the truth, I don’t talk trash.”
“I felt I won the fight, it was very close, I could have got the decision,” said Braekhus. “A lot of people thought I won and it’s not the way to lose your belts.
“I know I am a better fighter than Jessica, I had a bit of an off day, but I feel I did what I needed to do to retain my belts, but I was not at home. I was on her home turf and she got the belts.
“She says that people are hating on her because of the way she got the belts, they aren’t hating but people aren’t satisfied because that’s not the way anyone should become an undisputed champion, it should be harder than that. I don’t think she has a good feeling the way she won the belts.”
On the same card, there’s a rematch for Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez — after an eight year wait — for the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine world super flyweight titles.
In another title fight, Hiroto Kyoguchi defends his WBA and Ring Magazine world light flyweight titles against Axel Vega.