CARSON, Calif. -- May 5 will be a special night for women's boxing because HBO will be airing a women's fight for the first time in the network's history. The bout will feature the number one pound-for-pound female fighter in boxing, Cecilia Braekhus (32-0, 9 KOs), who also happens to be the undisputed welterweight champion. Braekhus will be challenged by Kali Reis (13-6-1, 4 KOs) and on the line will be Braekhus' WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF titles.
When your name is mentioned alongside Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, and Terence Crawford you're probably doing something right. That's the case for Braekhus who is mentioned among those great champions as the only fighters in the history of boxing to hold the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF titles simultaneously. Perhaps even more impressive is that Braekhus is never in close fights. Of her 32 victories all have come by the way of unanimous decision or knockout, meaning she doesn't just win fights, she dominates them.
Braekhus fights out of the orthodox stance and likes to keep her lead hand low as she uses her jab as a measuring stick for her right hand. The straight right hand is Braekhus' best punch and it often quickly follows her jab. Opponents also have to watch out for Braekhus' short left hook that she will catch them with coming in and an uppercut that can surprise them. Braekhus prefers to fight from the outside where she can really unleash her punches. When the fight takes place at close range she likes to clinch or get in and out quickly, which makes it hard for opponents to mount a sustained attack against her.
The one advantage Ries has is youth and size. She is five years younger than Braekhus and has fought most recently in the middleweight division so she's naturally bigger than Braekhus is. Reis also plies her trade out of the orthodox stance and she has a solid jab but will sometimes lean down to her right when she throws it, leaving herself open for Braekhus' short jab. Unlike Braekhus who prefers to work from the outside, Reis loves to fight in the pocket. She has a mean left hook and when she's in the pocket she does a nice job of banging that punch to the body.
A bad trend for Reis is that she tends to lose to her best competition and Braekhus is far and away the best opponent she's ever faced. Following a loss in 2016 Reis bounced back to go 3-0 in 2017, although those fights came against sub par competition. Braekhus also fought three times in 2017, going 3-0 with one knockout against top opponents.
There is a chance that Reis will be weight drained from moving down from the middleweight to welterweight division. However, if she isn't she could use her size and strength to try and rough things up on the inside against the smaller Braekhus. For Braekhus' part look for her to do what she always does, because if it isn't broken there is no sense in fixing anything. Braekhus will look to measure the distance with her jab, land big right hands, and stay out of the pocket where Reis does her best work.
PREDICTION: Kali Reis has a mean left hook to the body and loves to make fights tough on the inside but she won't be able to do much of that against Cecilia Braekhus. Braekhus is the best female fighter in boxing, and one of the best to ever lace them up and she will win this fight fairly easily by the way of unanimous decision.
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| Braekhus landing a hard right hand |
Braekhus fights out of the orthodox stance and likes to keep her lead hand low as she uses her jab as a measuring stick for her right hand. The straight right hand is Braekhus' best punch and it often quickly follows her jab. Opponents also have to watch out for Braekhus' short left hook that she will catch them with coming in and an uppercut that can surprise them. Braekhus prefers to fight from the outside where she can really unleash her punches. When the fight takes place at close range she likes to clinch or get in and out quickly, which makes it hard for opponents to mount a sustained attack against her.
The one advantage Ries has is youth and size. She is five years younger than Braekhus and has fought most recently in the middleweight division so she's naturally bigger than Braekhus is. Reis also plies her trade out of the orthodox stance and she has a solid jab but will sometimes lean down to her right when she throws it, leaving herself open for Braekhus' short jab. Unlike Braekhus who prefers to work from the outside, Reis loves to fight in the pocket. She has a mean left hook and when she's in the pocket she does a nice job of banging that punch to the body.
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| Reis landing a hard straight right hand |
There is a chance that Reis will be weight drained from moving down from the middleweight to welterweight division. However, if she isn't she could use her size and strength to try and rough things up on the inside against the smaller Braekhus. For Braekhus' part look for her to do what she always does, because if it isn't broken there is no sense in fixing anything. Braekhus will look to measure the distance with her jab, land big right hands, and stay out of the pocket where Reis does her best work.
PREDICTION: Kali Reis has a mean left hook to the body and loves to make fights tough on the inside but she won't be able to do much of that against Cecilia Braekhus. Braekhus is the best female fighter in boxing, and one of the best to ever lace them up and she will win this fight fairly easily by the way of unanimous decision.
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