Jessica McCaskill is out to silence the doubters for good when she faces Cecilia Braekhus in an eagerly-awaited rematch in Dallas on Saturday night.
McCaskill vs Braekhus 2 will go down at American Airlines Center in Dallas, with a global audience watching along on DAZN.
Jessica (9-2) produced an upset win in their first meeting back in Tulsa last August, outpointing Braekhus to hand the Norwegian great (36-1) her first professional defeat.
McCaskill wants her dues
She also claimed the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF welterweight titles in the process, but says she is still missing one thing for her career achievements - credit.
“I’m not saying I don’t get the credit for my last fight, but over the time that I’ve fought and the different hurdles that I have crossed, that’s what I don’t think I get the credit for, that’s not to make excuses.
“Everything I say is the truth, I don’t talk trash.”
The 36-year-old McCaskill’s battle just to make it to professional boxing has been well documented. She is fiercely determined to build her own ring legacy now, rather than just being known as the woman who beat Braekhus.
She explained: “I feel the last fight was the last one of her career. Once someone shows that weakness, shows they are not in it and alludes to retirement, that shows that they are mentally out of the game.
“We’ve never been given a whole lot, we’ve taken really big risks and they have gotten us to those higher places, I haven’t been given anything, I don’t want to take on anyone else’s legacy, I’m building my own and making history every step of the day and that’s what I want to continue to do.”
Braekhus out to right a wrong
Braekhus, now 39, is still smarting from that loss in Tulsa, and convinced she will right that perceived wrong come Saturday night.
“I felt I won the fight, it was very close, I could have got the decision. A lot of people thought I won and it’s not the way to lose your belts.
“I know I am a better fighter than Jessica, I had a bit of an off day, but I feel I did what I needed to do to retain my belts, but I was not at home, I was on her home turf and she got the belts.
“She says that people are hating on her because of the way she got the belts, they aren’t hating but people aren’t satisfied because that’s not the way anyone should become an undisputed champion, it should be harder than that. I don’t think she has a good feeling the way she won the belts.”
The bookmakers are clearly not convinced that Cecilia’s glorious championship run is over. Sky Bet make her a 4/7 favourite with McCaskill the slight underdog at 5/4 in a tight betting heat.
