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Cecilia Braekhus and Kali Reis Entertain in First-Ever Women’s Bout on HBO

Cecilia Braekhus Kali Reis

On Saturday, May 5, 2018, Cecilia Braekhus and Kali Reis made history, participating in the first women’s bout to air on HBO.

On Saturday, May 5, 2018, Cecilia Braekhus (33-0, 9 KOs) and Kali Reis (13-7-1, 4 KOs) made history, participating in the first women’s bout to air on HBO.

HBO, long considered the gold standard for quality boxing, has fallen off a bit in recent times in comparison to Showtime’s championship matchups. By finally deciding to air women’s boxing, HBO is joining the party late–but better late than never.

Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, spoke about the significance of the bout during fight week.

“She [Braekhus] deserves to be seen by as large an audience as possible,” said Nelson (per ESPN). “We are privileged that her debut on HBO coincides with ours in women’s boxing.”

Oddly enough, shortly before the fight started, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reported that at the last minute, Braekhus had decided to make a trainer change.

Braekhus had been trained by legendary female fighter, Lucia Rijker throughout this camp and all throughout fight week, but apparently some time after Friday’s HBO fighter meeting and fight time on Saturday, Braekhus had decided to go back to her former trainer, Jonathon Banks.

While Reis got off to a good start in the fight, Braekhus took a couple of rounds to get her rhythm going.

But by Round 3, Braekhus began timing Reis, landing some solid right hands which Reis would try to counter but would fall short.

By Round 7, it looked like Braekhus would box her way to a clear cut unanimous decision–until she got caught with a right and dropped for the first time in her career.

Braekhus hopped up quickly, and although she laughed off the knockdown, she was clearly wobbled and it gave Reis the confidence she needed to continue to come forward.

At the end of Round 8, Reis again caught Braekhus with a solid combination which wobbled the undefeated champion.

Between rounds, Banks implored Braekhus to use her jab and avoid big exchanges with the heavy-handed Rhode Island native. To her credit and much to the pleasure of spectators, Braekhus took chances and exchanged with Reis on the inside.

In the end, though, Reis could not find the power punches to put Braekhus down and out. Braekhus took a unanimous decision victory with scores of 97-92 and 96-93 twice.

During the post-fight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman, Braekhus sidestepped questions regarding potential fights with the smaller Katie Taylor and bigger Claressa Shields, but she did stress her interest in giving Reis a rematch.

Braekhus and Reis had a lot of pressure on their shoulders going into the fight given the fact that this was HBO’s first women’s boxing showcase. The fight was entertaining and it should open the door for more women’s scraps in the near future.

 

Header photo by HBO Boxing

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