There was a changing of the guard in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Jessica McCaskill became Undisputed Welterweight world champion with a stunning majority points win over long-reigning titlist Cecilia Brækhus on Saturday.
‘First Lady’ Brækhus (36-1, 9 KOs) was attempting to make her 26th defence of the Welterweight crown, which would have beaten the great Joe Louis’ record, but it wasn’t to be for the Norwegian, as the inspired McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs) took all of the belts back to Chicago and Braekhus’ unbeaten record.
‘CasKILLA’ started as she meant to go on, throwing multiple punches and outworking the 38-year-old champion, who was forced to match her hungry opponent’s desire in the early going.
Brækhus though, to her credit, started to time her challenger from the middle rounds onwards, countering McCaskill’s aggressive moves forward, as she made a last ditch attempt to keep hold of her gold.
It was competitive throughout and as both started to tire, Brækhus finished the stronger as McCaskill’s work became wild and ragged.
However, the 35-year-old’s early enthusiasm and will to win had given her a strong argument for victory when the contest went to the cards.
One judge returned a draw at 95-95, but was overruled by 97-94 and 97-93 tallies from the other two officials to crown a new WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO Welterweight champion.
“This is for the fourth grade year old homeless Jessica,” said the ecstatic new champion to DAZN post-fight.
“This is for the little girl that just didn’t care what people thought about her and learned to love herself even though she was really weird.”
Brækhus was classy and magnanimous in defeat and hinted at retirement post-fight: “If this is my last fight, I could leave women’s boxing and just say I was part of this.
“I was part of taking women’s boxing to this level and that will be my biggest achievement of all.”
Thoughts for McCaskill now turn to her old foe Katie Taylor, with a rematch in the works if the Irishwoman can get past Delfine Persoon next week in a rematch of their June 2019 barnburner.
Scorecards: 95-95, 97-93, 97-94
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— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) August 16, 2020
In a WBA Super-Welterweight title eliminator, Israil Madrimov was bizarrely robbed of a knockout victory against Eric Walker, eventually having to settle for a clear win on the cards.
A massive left hand in the ninth from Madrimov (6-0, 5 KOs) sent the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ sprawling to the canvas, but the referee ruled a slip, stating Madrimov had led with the shoulder, which was totally incorrect.
Madrimov drops Walker, but the referee rules no knockdown.
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— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) August 16, 2020
To add insult to injury, the referee allowed Walker (20-3, 9 KOs) five minutes to recover in what should have been a knockout.
Madrimov was deducted a point in the final round, but dropped Walker with a right hand, as the fight neared its conclusion.
The fight went to the cards, where scores of 116-110 (twice) and 116-111 moved the Uzbek, who is ranked two by the WBA a step closer to champion, Jeison Rosario.
Another Uzbek talent, Shakhram Giyasov (10-0, 8 KOs), remained undefeated with a perfectly timed left to the body in the third round from which Wiston Campos (31-8-6, 19 KOs) couldn’t recover from.
21-year-old Raymond ‘Savage’ Ford improved to 6-0 (2 KOs) with a six round points win over Eric Manriquez (7-11-1, 3 KOs) at Featherweight.
Two scores of 60-54 and a third at 59-54 reflected Ford’s dominance.
Nikita Ababiy,21, also remained unbeaten at Middleweight with a points win against Jarvis Williams (8-3-1, 5 KOs) over six.
Scores of 59-55 (twice) and 58-56 moved ‘White Chocolate’ to 9-0 (6 KOs).
