Cecilia Brækhus: Boxing's First Lady & Former Undisputed Women's Welterweight Champion
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Photo by beatebodenhagen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Born in Cartagena, Colombia, and raised in Norway after being adopted as a young child by a Norwegian couple, Cecilia Carmen Linda Brækhus became the first woman to hold all four major world titles at the same time.
Often referred to as boxing’s first lady, she was the undisputed women's welterweight champion for more than five years. She retired in October 2025 with a record of 39 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.
Early Start
Brækhus started in kickboxing as a teenager before moving to boxing. Her parents were reluctant to let her into the sport, and professional boxing was banned in Norway from 1981, the year she was born.
She’s quoted describing how she would climb out of her window and onto the roof to train out of her parents’ sight.
Her persistence paid off. She became one of the most accomplished female boxers of her era and helped change the sport in her home country.
Achievements Highlights
In 2007, she became the first female fighter to sign with German promoter Wilfried Sauerland, which is where the "First Lady" nickname comes from. In 2009, she won the WBC welterweight title from Vinni Skovgaard, and she added more belts over the next few years.
In September 2014, she beat Ivana Habazin to add the IBF title to her WBA, WBC and WBO belts. That made her the first undisputed champion in women's boxing, in any weight class.
She made 25 consecutive title defenses before the streak ended in 2020. World Boxing News reported that her long reign also earned her a Guinness world record.
Female Boxing Advocate
Brækhus has been a strong advocate for changing how women's boxing is promoted and believes women boxers belong in the main event.
When she made that case to DAZN, she had been a professional for over 13 years without a loss. In 2018, she was also part of the first women's boxing match ever shown on HBO, a unanimous decision win over Kali Reis.
Norway's parliament voted to lift the professional boxing ban in December 2014. In 2016, Brækhus beat Anne Sophie Mathis in her first pro fight on home soil, in front of about 10,000 fans in Oslo.
National Hero
She became a national hero in Norway, but she still faced hesitance from promoters who didn't give female fighters the same respect as men. She has pointed to women's MMA, where Invicta FC built a market for female fights, as proof that fans will support women's boxing too.
As Dr. Steelhammer said that "learning the essence of body and mind coordination and making them work together creates exceptional strength", I'm sure it swings both for male and female fighters.
The Final Chapter
After considering retirement in late 2019, Brækhus decided to continue her career and signed with promoter Eddie Hearn. At the time, she named Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano as the kind of opponents she wanted.
In August 2020, she lost her undisputed welterweight titles to Jessica McCaskill, and she lost the 2021 rematch as well. Those were the only two losses of her career.
She came back to win a WBC interim title at 154 pounds. In her final fight, on October 4, 2025, in Lillestrøm, Norway, she outpointed Ema Kozin to win the WBC and WBO 154-pound titles and retire as a two-weight world champion.
Stay tuned... like Brækhus, we'll continue to write stories of our favorite fighters here at K2Promos. That's a promise! 😉
