Jessica McCaskill and Cecilia Braekhus will do it again.
Braekhus, who lost a close decision, her perfect record and her welterweight titles against McCaskill on Aug. 15 in Tulsa, Okla., has exercised a rematch clause in their contract, Matchroom Boxing has announced.
The second fight will take place early next year, according to the promotional firm. No specific date or site was announced.
Braekhus (36-1, 9 KOs) said immediately after her setback that she would consider retirement.
“It was the weakest performance in my whole career,” Braekhus said. “I still feel I won, or could have got a draw, and when I thought about that, I knew I could beat her in a rematch. I didn’t want to go out with a career-worst performance either, I definitely owe that to my fans. If this was a fight where I lost to a better fighter, had been in my best shape and had given it my all, then fine, I could retire, but that was not the case here.
“She gave her everything in the ring, and I wanted to give her props for that, I knew what I was going through and what I was struggling with. For everyone this was just a tough time. But we need to meet again under different circumstances.
“It’s hard to explain exactly how I was in the ring that night. For everyone that has watched my other fights and been following me for a while, they saw that something was very wrong. So for me to come back after getting some time in Norway with my friends and family, spending time on my other projects and gaining my strength back and going back to training camp, I don’t need to do anything different to get the win.
“I learned how good I am. I was in bad shape, and I still feel like I beat a great fighter like Jessica, so my self-esteem is very high right now. A win or a draw would be OK but I also understand the emotional aspect of giving Jessica the win because she fought her heart out. If you were a judge and saw this, I can understand that.
“We never underestimated Jessica at all. These are unprecedented times and there’s no blueprint here, I didn’t have anyone that I could call and ask, ‘What do I do in this situation?’ This had never happened before so I just had to try my luck. There’s no-one to blame it just didn’t work out for us.
“The situation with no crowd didn’t bother me so much. It’s good in a way because it’s completely neutral. But it would be good to have fans for the rematch, it gives us more energy and a little extra. We don’t want three American judges next time that’s for sure. I think if it’s in America I will have to get the KO for sure, after meeting Jessica in the ring, I was never near getting KO’d, so I’m definitely not worried about that.”
McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs) isn’t surprised Braekhus wants a second chance.
“That’s the fastest retirement I’ve ever seen in boxing history. She’s back!” McCaskill said. “We knew she would be back and that it would only be a matter of time. Usually those types of conversations straight after a fight [take place] to direct the audience’s eyes away from the loss. In this sport, so many people have said that they are retired and then come back to have fights.
“I gave her the belts back and just wanted to be the one to do that. There’s never been any bad blood, I could have had my team send the belts back but there was no reason not to give the belts back myself. … We went over to her room, and she was on the phone to her family. When she got off the phone, she made comments to passing the torch, and with her being beaten for the first time I think she expects someone else to carry on her legacy. And I have my own legacy to fulfill, and that’s where my focus is.
“Tulsa is over with and now I have to get up for the rematch, which is part of being professional and part of the gameplay. The only rematch I’ve had in my pro career was with Erica Farias, so it’s part of it and you cannot expect anything to motivate, you can’t expect your team to hype you up for a workout. What if they are not there that day? You can’t expect the fans to get you hyped for the fight because. What if there are no fans? I am a very mentally strong person, I can control how to get from point A to point B so I will be ready for it.”
McCaskill won the first fight by a majority decision, 95-95, 97-94 and 97-93.
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