Cecilia Braekhus withdraws from her title fight with Terri Harper in Dublin tonight… with the Super-Welterweight match-up set to be part of the undercard before Katie Taylor’s first professional bout in Ireland
Cecilia Braekhus has withdrawn from her WBA Super-Welterweight fight with Terri Harper in Dublin tonight, telling her social media followers that she has woken up with flu-like symptoms.
The news of the Norwegian’s withdrawal was confirmed by IFL TV on Twitter.
The bout at the 3Arena was due to be the last of the undercard before Katie Taylor’s first professional fight in Ireland against Chantelle Cameron.
In an Instagram post, Braekhus said she cited ‘headache, fever, ear, nose, throat, the whole thing’.
She said that she felt ‘great’ at Friday’s weigh-in, but was left ‘heartbroken’ by the sudden illness which hit her overnight.
Cecilia Braekhus has withdrawn from her WBA Super-Welterweight fight with Terri Harper
She said she was ‘gutted’ for her fans, and for Harper, and expressed her hope that they could arrange another meeting ‘real soon’.
Braekhus, 41, has a 37-2 record in the sport, winning nine of those fights by knock-out.
Her most recent victory over Marisa Joana Portillo in December of last year bought the Norwegian fighter back to winning ways, after consecutive losses to American Jessica McCaskill in 2020 and 2021.
The Norwegian was due to fight Harper (left) in the undercard at the 3Arena in Dublin tonight
Harper was set to defend her WBA super-welterweight belt in Saturday’s fight, which she won by unanimous decision after fighting Brit Hannah Rankin in Nottingham in September 2022.
The meeting between Braekhus and Harper was set to be the penultimate fight of the night at Dublin’s 3Arena, before Taylor’s fight against Cameron.
Taylor, 36, had intended to fight Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano, but due to injury, she will instead take on 32-year-old Cameron, who has been calling for a bout against the Irish woman for a number of years.
More to follow…