Cecilia Braekhus tops late replacement Maricela Cornejo in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Two women who have given so much to grow their sport squared off Saturday night, and it was the richer veteran who put her extra experience to use to win the fight.

Norway’s Cecilia Braekhus, who ruled the welterweight division for nearly a dozen years, scored a fourth-round knockdown and landed the more effective blows from her weaker hand down the stretch to claim a unanimous decision victory by three 96-93 scorecards over Maricela Cornejo.

“It feels amazing to get the belt back,” Braekhus said. “She is a tough fighter and has faced the best in the divisions she has fought in. I knew I had to show no fear, and even though she is powerful, I am powerful, too.”

The bout was for the interim World Boxing Council junior middleweight title because Braekhus’ originally scheduled opponent, WBC/World Boxing Organization titleholder Ema Kozin, had travel problems and couldn’t reach the U.S.

Braekhus promoter Tom Loeffler said Braekhus “has fought in Europe so many times, I think she could definitely go back over there and do another huge fight in [Norway].”

Cornejo (19-7) replaced Slovenia’s Kozin with just 20 days’ rest after winning a decision in Costa Rica on July 20.

After the scores were announced, Braekhus, 42, and Cornejo, 37, shared an extended embrace that was loaded with mutual admiration.

Adding Braekhus (38-2-1) to her resume boosts one of the more formidable careers by a women’s non-champion thus far.

Consider: Cornejo lost a 2016 middleweight title fight in Australia to Kali Reis; she suffered consecutive decision defeats to super middleweight titleholder Franchon Crews Dezurn in 2018 and 2019; she dropped a unanimous decision to undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields in 2023; and has now stepped in as a replacement for the legendary Braekhus.

Braekhus stood as a welterweight titleholder from 2009 until 2020, becoming undisputed champion along the way.

In the fight, Braekhus effectively bided her time waiting out Cornejo’s jabs, and toward the close of the fourth round, she knocked down Cornejo with a quick left and a harder right that sat the persistent challenger on the canvas.

Both fighters increased their intensity in the sixth, and Braekhus enjoyed success by pressing the action in the seventh.

Braekhus’ effectiveness continued in the eighth as she jarred Cornejo’s head with a left and then hammered her in the jaw with a right, repeating that shot just as the bell rang – and patting Cornejo on the back in a sorry-not-sorry act.

Braekhus’ ability to land the hard left separated her from Cornejo, and it won her the ninth.

Cornejo opened the bout with the activity of someone who could not stomach another big-fight defeat after those losses in her prior title bouts.

Returning to the ring after just a three-week break, Cornejo sought to score points and set up punches with her jab in the early going, but Braekhus landed the defining punches of the third round and turned that into a habit.

“I am going to party in Las Vegas until [Sunday] morning with my new belt and fly home to Norway to celebrate there, because this is a huge win for the Norwegian people,” Braekhus said. “And once the dust settles, I will figure out the best plan forward with Tom Loeffler and [trainer] Johnathan Banks.”