28 November 2019

Undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus says the 'main goal' is to fight Katie Taylor

Undisputed welterweight world champion Cecilia Braekhus has said her 'main goal is to fight Katie Taylor' ahead of her bout on Saturday.

The 39-year-old, who has won all 35 of her professional fights, takes on Victoria Noelia Bustos in Monaco at the weekend, with the five 147 pound belts she holds on the line.

And Braekhus admits that she wondered whether her career was coming to an end before the big names began calling her out.

Speaking to DAZN News, she said: "I was very tired after my last fight. I kept asking myself if this was it. But then I got back to Norway and got to relax a little bit. I was at home doing nothing with boxing at all.

"Then all these girls started to call me out. You had Claressa Shields, Katie Taylor, (Cris) Cyborg, all calling me out in like one week. Then I was like, ‘No, I’m definitely not done here.’"

For Braekhus, providing she comes through Saturday night unscathed, the decision is whether to drop down to lightweight to take on Taylor or move up to middleweight for the Shields fight.

But the Norwegian has made it clear the Irish Olympic gold medallist is the clash she is looking at for 2020, assuming Taylor can clear out the rest of her rivals in the lightweight division, most notably American Amanda Serrano.

"Those are the fights I want. It was either going up to fight Claressa or going down to fight those girls. 

"I don’t think it’s realistic for me to jump up and down. It’s either up or down. Next year, I will go down. I’m ready.

"I hope Katie Taylor wins her next fight and gets a good win. The main goal is to fight Taylor because I feel like I can challenge myself if I fight her, and it would be the biggest fight of them all unless Amanda Serrano beats her — then Serrano is the one I want to meet. I don’t have a long time left in the sport."

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