Terri Harper vs Cecilia Braekhus Preview May 20th, 2023
WBA and IBO Super Welterweight champion Terri Harper of England puts her titles on the line against former world champion Cecilia Braekhus of Colombia this Saturday, May 20th. The 10-rounder from Dublin, Ireland can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Harper last saw action in September when she won a unanimous decision over Hannah Rankin to defend her WBA and IBO Titles. Braekhus last fought in December when she beat Marisa Portillo by six-round unanimous decision.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Harper vs Braekhus Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Cecilia Braekhus +400
- Terri Harper -600
My Pick
The 26-year-old Harper of Doncaster climbs through the ropes with a 13-1-1 record with 6 Ko’s and has boxed 104 rounds since turning pro in 2017. She enjoyed a short but successful amateur career which saw her capture a trio of national titles along with a silver medal at the 2012 European Junior Championships. Harper stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 65 inch reach and has pretty good power in the female division with a current knockout ratio of 40 per cent.
Harper won the vacant WBC International Lightweight title in 2019 with a 10th-round stoppage over Nina Bradley after dropping her in the first and second rounds. She added the vacant IBO Super-Featherweight Belt in 2019 by stopping Nozipho Bell in the eighth round and then beat Eva Wahlström for the WBC Super-Featherweight Belt in 2020 via a unanimous decision after dropping her in the seventh round.
Her lone draw came against former Olympian Natasha Jonas in August, 2020 and her defeat came at the hands of Alycia Baumgardner when she was stopped in the fourth round in November, 2021 and lost her IBO and WBC Super-Featherweight Titles. She bounced back with a unanimous decision over Yamila Abellaneda four months later to take the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Belt and then beat Hannah Rankin the last tome out to win her IBO and WBA Super-Welterweight Titles. Harper also has wins over Claudia Lopez, Viviane Obenauf and Katharina Thanderz.
The 41-year-old Braekhus was born in Colombia and adopted by Norwegian parents as a youngster and grew up in Bergen. She enjoyed a successful kickboxing career before trying her hand at boxing and racked up an amateur record mark of 75-5, winning a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships, gold at the 2005 European Championships and silver at the 2004 European Championships. She then turned pro in 2007, has boxed 310 rounds and owns a record of 37-2 with 9 Ko’s.
Braekhus stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach which gives her a two-inch edge in reach even though she’s an inch shorter than Harper. As far as power goes, her current knockout sits at a ratio of 23.1 per cent. She’s gone the distance in her last seven bouts with her last win by stoppage coming back in 2017 halted Mikaela Lauren in the sixth round. She won her first world titles in 2009 when she beat Vinni Skovgaard for the vacant WBA and WBC Welterweight Titles. The next belt added was the vacant WBO Welterweight version with a unanimous decision over Victoria Cisneros in 2010.
Braekhus defended those titles numerous times and then captured the IBF version with a unanimous decision over Ivana Habazin in 2014. The IBO belt was next via a unanimous decision over Chris Namus in 2016. She made several more defences but then lost all five welterweight belts when she dropped a majority decision to Jessica McCaskill in August, 2020. Braekhus attempted to regain the titles in a rematch seven months later but this time lost by unanimous decision. In total, Braekhus was the undisputed women’s Welterweight Boss from 2014 to 2020.
Prediction…
There’s no doubt, Braekhus is one of the best female boxers with McCaskill being the only person to beat her. However, she’s now 41 years old and lacks power. With Harper being a full 15 years younger it’s understandable why she’s the favourite here. Braekhus will have to rely on her boxing skills here but I think she’ll fall just short in her attempt to win another world title. I’m going with Harper here in a bit of a chess match.
Braekhus is 15 years older than Harper and lacks power.
Play: Terri Harper -600 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Cecilia Braekhus betting • Terri Harper betting