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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
Terri Harper will defend her WBA junior middleweight title against Cecilia Braekhus on Oct. 7 in Sheffield, England, a rescheduling of a fight that was supposed to take place in May before Braekhus had to pull out.
It will be the second title defense for the 26-year-old Harper, who fought Ivana Habazin in May after Braekhus had to withdraw. The vacant WBO title, which had been held by Natasha Jonas, will also be up for grabs in Harper-Braekhus.
Harper (14-1-1, 6 KO) has won her past three fights after being knocked out by Alycia Baumgardner in 2021 when Harper was the WBC junior lightweight champion. Since that fight, Harper has moved up in weight class, first to lightweight for a fight and then to junior middleweight, where she beat Hannah Rankin for the WBA title and then Habazin.
Braekhus, 41, is a former pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world and is fighting at junior middleweight for the second time in her career. Braekhus (37-2, 9 KOs) is trying to win a world title in a second weight division after holding at least one of the four main welterweight belts from 2009 until 2020, when she lost to Jessica McCaskill by majority decision. She lost a rematch to McCaskill by unanimous decision and has since fought at junior middleweight.
The Harper-Braekhus bout will be on the undercard of the Leigh Wood-Josh Warrington featherweight title fight.