Former Pound for Pound Queen Cecilia Braekhus has spoken to World Boxing News with her reaction to Kali Reis calling for a rematch.
As WBN covered previously, Reis took to social media to ask Braekhus if she wanted to dance again following the success of her acting career.
Reis starred in True Detective: Night Country alongside Oscar winner Jodie Foster and used the finale to reignite interest in fighting. Reis then picked out Braekhus for a potential 2024 rematch after the pair shared a ten-round war in 2018 on HBO. The event six years was a resounding success, and demand for a second clash is apparent.
However, Braekhus has a mandatory position with the WBC to think of and wants another crack at the world title before retirement.
For now, the return could be on hold.
“I was not surprised Kali Reis called me out since the first fight was a huge success. The fight peaked with one million viewers on HBO. They tuned in to see the first female fight on HBO ever. They were not disappointed,” Braekhus told World Boxing News in an exclusive interview.
“But right now, I am the mandatory for the 154 WBC title, and that’s where my focus is. Hopefully, we can announce something soon and fight for the title [held by Natasha Jonas]. Natasha Jonas has approached us. We have also been in dialogue with Cris Cyborg, who wants a fight at the end of the year.”
During Reis calling out Braekhus, the boxer-turned-actor got into it with Tom Loeffler, the promoter of the 2018 fight. Loeffler accused the Reis Team of making demands that almost saw the fight called off.
Reis denied this unequivocally. However, it also hit a nerve with Braekhus.
“I talked to Tom after she went on Twitter. But I don’t think he wants to go through it again after how he was treated last time,” she stated. ” I think it’s time to clear some things up that have gone completely under the radar. That is the fact that without Tom, neither Reis nor I would have been fighting on HBO. They would probably have gone out of business and not shown any female boxing at all.
“Tom had lobbied HBO for months to get me on a show, and through his role in Team GGG [Gennadiy Golovkin], he had the ear of the decision-makers over there.
“They were not interested at all, but he never gave up. Finally, HBO decided to put me on. I was the first undisputed female champion in the world, so there was a story to be made.
“We looked at all the female fighters at that time, and we picked Reis because I was impressed. I knew she would be a worthy opponent. Tom had to literally fight to get her on the show because, at that time, nobody knew her over in the States. A bigger name was requested. But finally, he convinced the bosses at HBO, and the rest is history.
“So, the Resi battle broke the glass ceiling, but don’t forget the people who helped you get there.”
True Detective
Asked if she watched Reis in True Detective, Braekhus replied: “I binged True Detective in one weekend. It’s one of the best shows I have seen lately.
“She was amazing, and the ending was brilliant. I don’t know what’s wrong with people,” the Norweigan added, referring to some trolling.
Finally, about how long she plans to fight for, Braekhus said: “I’m definitely getting closer to the end. After years of inactivity, I almost knocked out the world champion, Terri Harper, so that was definitely a boost.”
WBN also asked Tom Loffler for his thoughts on making the Reis rematch. The promoter seemed to shut it down for now.
“Cecilia is focused on winning a title at 154. Then we have to see what happens from there.”
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