Boxing’s “First Lady”, Cecilia Braekhus (23-0, 7 KO’s) retained the WBC, WBA, and WBO welterweight titles, stopping WBO light middleweight title holder Oxandia Castillo (12-1-2, 9 KO’s) in the ninth round Saturday night at Arena Nord in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Castillo,
who ‘s fought in every class from welterweight to light heavyweight, won the light middleweight crown in her last outing against Hanna Gabriel, but dropped back down for the high profile bout with Braekhus which was the co-feature event of the Nordic Fight card headlined by Danish favorite Patrick Nielsen.
Castillo put up a good effort, and landed some solid shots early on, but it was experience and overall talent that made the difference down the stretch. Braekhus opened up in the later rounds, and the end came near the end of the ninth frame when referee Mickey Vann waved off the action after a right hand snapped back the head of the 18 year old challenger. It was the first loss for Castillo, who’s had a busy schedule since turning pro in 2010, fighting up to five times a year.
Braekhus has now made a total of 12 successful title defenses. She’s held the WBA and WBC belts since 2009, and the WBO strap was won in 2010. Considered the best female boxer worldwide, she lobbied hard for a bout with another major talent, Holly Holm, early in the year but Holm retired before the bout could materialize.
In Germany, the vacant WBF super flyweight title was won by undefeated Raja Amasheh (16-0, 4 KO’s), who took a 10 round decision over WIBF flyweight champion, Eva Voraberger (16-3, 8 KO’s). It was Amasheh’s first world title challenge, and Voraberger’s first defeat since 2009, she had won 15 straight.
On the same card, Rola El Halabi (13-1, 7 KO’s) was back in action after fighting just one month ago. She retained the WBF light welterweight title, defeating Sopo Putkaradze (6-1-2, 1 KO) by sixth round stoppage. Putkaradze had built her career largely against debuting fighters, having fought six opponents with no professional experience and fighting two of them in rematches.
Debora Dionicius (14-0, 4 KO’s) kept her undefeated streak in-tact, taking a 10 round decision over Olga Julio (15-15-1, 10 KO’s) in Argentina. Dionicius was making the third defense of the IBF super flyweight title she had won last November. Julio has now contested seven times in world title bouts and has been unsuccessful in all of them.
Non-title action in Mexico saw former WBF flyweight and IBF light flyweight champion Irma Sanchez (26-6-1, 7 KO’s) defeat IBF minimum-weight title holder Katia Gutierrez (18-4, 4 KO’s) for the second time, scoring a 10 round split decision. The two last met in January of 2011 for the vacant IBF female light flyweight title with Sanchez also winning that bout by 10 round decision.
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