FanSided’s 2018 boxing awards and review of boxing’s best moments

2018 Female Fighter of the Year: Cecilia Braekhus (35-0, 9 KOs)

Women’s boxing made big strides in 2018 and Cecilia Braekhus is one of the catalysts helping to bring gender equality to the sport. Numerous female boxers like Katie Taylor, Heather Hardy, and Claressa Shields have all fought on major televised fight cards, but they might not have had that opportunity if it wasn’t for Braekhus.

Braekhus has been a reigning champion longer than any other female boxer. She won the WBC and WBA welterweight titles in 2009. She has added the IBO, IBF and WBO titles to her collection making her an undisputed and fully unified champion. The only other person in the world that can say that is Oleksandr Usyk.

Braekhus is experienced and skilled. She is 37 years old, but she still easily outboxes top level opposition. Every fight that she has won by a decision has been scored unanimously in her favor. Not even Usyk can make that claim.

Braekhus fights for female boxing outside of the ring as well. She is from Norway which outlawed boxing for 33 years. She was a driving force behind the country’s decision to lift its ban in 2016, and she openly works through the media to help expand women’s boxing on a global level.

While talking to FanSided earlier in December regarding what is needed to fully ingratiate women into boxing’s mainstream, Braekhus said:

"I don’t think it’s just one thing. I think it’s a lot of different things. It is the work that me and other female fighters have done for so many years. It’s the women coming to the Olympics. It’s the young hungry girls coming up like Claressa [Shields] and [Katie]Taylor and those fighters that are definitely a new generation of women empowerment with the Me Too movement. And men having the courage to stand up for all fighters."

Braekhus is doing her part inside the ring and out which is why she’s our 2018 Female Fighter of the Year.