Jessica McCaskill left little doubt about the outcome of her immediate rematch with Cecilia Braekhus.
An aggressive McCaskill was more active and punched the hardest to defeat the former undisputed female welterweight champion much more convincingly in her second fight on Saturday night in Dallas. McCaskill, who defeated Braekhus by majority decision nearly seven months ago, won his 10 round rematch by unanimous decision on the undercard Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman Gonzalez at the American Airlines Center.
McCaskill comfortably defeated Braekhus on the scoreboard of judges Javier Alvarez (98-91), Gloria Martinez Rizzo (99-90) and Chris Tellez (100-89), who scored all 10 rounds for McCaskill. Her second direct loss to McCaskill will not bring an end to Braekhus’ fantastic 39-year career, according to what she told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in his post-fight interview.
Chicago’s McCaskill (10-2, 3 KOs) retained the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO welterweight titles that she won from Norway’s Braekhus (36-2, 9 KOs) on August 15 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Braekhus came out as a favorite 8-1 that night, but two judges favored McCaskill’s activity and aggression, and she won a 10-round majority (97-93, 97-94, 95-95).
McCaskill’s 36-year-old comeback ended the longest boxing reign in the league and banned Braekhus from breaking Joe Louis’ long-standing record for consecutive title saves in the same division (25). Braekhus held the WBA and WBC titles from March 2009 until McCaskill won it.
A more accurate Braekhus had some success in the tenth round on Saturday night, but McCaskill’s leadership was obviously unsurpassed at that point.
Braekus’ right uppercut caught McCaskill with about a minute left in the ninth round. Braekhus hit a straight straight as McCaskill advanced with 30 seconds to go to the ninth round.
McCaskill continued to take the tallest Braekhus with overhand rights as Braekhus advanced in the eighth round. At that point, McCaskill appeared to be in complete control of the rematch.
McCaskill landed a right on Braekhus’s head at the start of the seventh round. Braekhus hit McCaskill with an overhand right at the end of the seventh round, but referee Rafael Ramos deduced a Braekhus point a few seconds later for pushing McCaskill’s head.
McCaskill landed a right hand from a clinch with 1:17 to go in the sixth round, but Braekhus was successful later in that round. She hit McCaskill with her right hand with 35 seconds remaining on Friday.
Braekhus landed a short left hook with about 20 seconds remaining in the fifth round.
McCaskill connected with another right next to Braekhus’s head at the start of the fourth round. Another direct right from McCaskill hit Braekhus in the second minute of the fourth round.
McCaskill’s right next to Braekhus’s head unbalanced her about 20 seconds in the third round. Braekhus tripped over the ropes, but she didn’t look hurt by the shot.
McCaskill remained the aggressor during the third round.
Braekhus caught McCaskill with a right hook early in the second round, but McCaskill came back with a left hook. McCaskill’s overhand right staggered Braekhus with 25 seconds to go for the second round and pushed her away from McCaskill, in a corner.
McCaskill changed direction as soon as the rematch started on Saturday night. She landed with her right hand that pushed Braekhus to the ropes 30 seconds after the fight started.
Braekhus hit his own right hand with just under a minute to go in the opening round. McCaskill came back to hit Braekhus with a right hand that made the former champion retreat about 15 seconds from the end of the first round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer / columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.