Cecilia Braekhus has warned that the world title fight between Jessica McCaskill and Lauren Price could turn into a brawl and has helped the Olympic champion prevail when the pair meet this weekend.
Price will fight for her first world title in just her seventh professional fight when she takes on former undisputed champion McCaskill for the WBA, IBO and Ring Magazine welterweight world titles.
Boxing legend Braekhus knows McCaskill well, having suffered two consecutive losses to the American in 2020 and 2021.
“I’m looking forward to this fight,” said Braekhus Sky Sports. “I am happy. I just wish it had much, much more traction here in the States. I think it will be a great fight.”
“It will be a tough fight. They both have a bit of the same style and attitude, they love to brawl.”
“It will be an ugly fight, but it will be incredibly entertaining. You just have to commit to it, I think it will be a blast.”
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Johnny Nelson believes McCaskill will look to use her experience fighting Price to her advantage
Despite her experience against McCaskill, former undisputed welterweight champion Braekhus believes Price’s extensive amateur experience will give her an advantage over McCaskill’s physical approach.
“I think I would give Price the slight upper hand,” Braekhus said. “She’s strong, she’s physically fit, she comes from amateur boxing where you used to fight with a lot of different styles.”
“Of course she has the home advantage. And you know, Jessica has a way and she always does the same thing. I’m pretty sure they studied her a lot.”
“I’d go for Price, but they’ll both come in and they’ll both go away. This will just be incredibly entertaining. I will 100 percent watch.”
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Price’s promoter Ben Shalom believes now is the right time for her to fight for her first world title
Previously, Braekhus was the most dominant figure in female boxing with a 36-fight unbeaten streak that spanned 13 years and defended all four major welterweight world titles ten times. However, her illustrious resume does not include an appearance at the Olympic Games, where women’s boxing was only on the program in 2012.
Price became the latest beacon of Olympic success in Tokyo as she marched to a famous gold medal and Braekhus hailed it as another step forward for the sport.
“I’m just super happy it happened,” she continued. When women competed in the Olympics for the first time, I thought, “Oh my God, this is just so new, everything is so new.”
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“When it happened I was worried I would be a bit angry and bitter, but to be honest that didn’t happen. I was just so happy that we were finally there, that we had finally gotten over that hurdle, because honestly, I didn’t know if that would ever happen.
“And as we predicted, that was one of the reasons why women’s boxing also exploded and more resources were put into women’s boxing, more into the team, into training, into the coaches. “So that was a real vitamin boost for women’s boxing,” and I could only be happy about it.
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After it was announced that Price would fight McCaskill for her first world title, the Chicago boxer says this is the opportunity for the British welterweight to put on a show
Although she may not have appeared on the Olympic stage, the 42-year-old is proud to have helped lay the foundation for a thriving women’s scene.
“When we traveled around the world we didn’t get paid, we paid for everything ourselves,” she said. “We slept in the craziest places. We didn’t get anything materialistic back, we just did it because we love the sport.”
“We did it for friendship, for camaraderie and for the experiences. All the women who were part of that era are just proud that we endured it all because without us we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
As for a possible matchup with Price before she hangs up her gloves, Braekhus suggests it would have to be of a different weight.
“We would love the fight, but like I said, I can’t do 147. “That won’t happen!” she said.
It is one of the biggest sporting events in a generation. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk collide for the undisputed world heavyweight championship on Saturday May 18th, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book the fight now.
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