Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Cris Cyborg is calling out one of the toughest women in boxing for her next bout.
Ever since Conor McGregor crossed over to box Floyd Mayweather, we’ve seen an endless parade of other fighters on both sides of the sports divide talking about fighting each other. The big problem? 99% of this smack will never turn into anything concrete. UFC president Dana White clearly isn’t comfortable allowing more of his top athletes to taste the kind of top paydays afforded in boxing. And most boxers clearly aren’t interested in getting their asses whupped in a cage.
But there’s one person we believe when they say they’re gonna box, and that’s Cris Cyborg. The Bellator women’s featherweight champion is enjoying her newfound freedom back with old promoter Scott Coker, who seems more than happy to let her spread her wings as wide as they’ll go.
”I’m training a lot in boxing now,” Cyborg said in a recent TMZ Sports interview. “I was thinking about maybe I do my next fight in boxing. Me and Cecilia Braekhus always talk back and forth. But, you know, I’m training … I think everyone is gonna be a very good match for me. It’s gonna be a great fight. I like to challenge myself. I never look for the easy way. I like to train hard, and make the best fight for my career, for my fans.”
Braekhus would indeed be a serious challenge — she holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring female welterweight titles and currently sits at 36-0 in her pro career and 75-5 as an amateur.
”I always compete in everything, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA, jiu-jitsu, grappling,” Cyborg said. “I never got the opportunity to fight box. For me, it’s gonna be an honor to fight her. I improve every day. I never think I know everything, I just learn, open my mind. Boxing is very different than MMA, lot of things to know. But I’m learning every day and very happy about it.”
A lot of fighters talk about being willing to fight the best, but Cyborg puts her money where her mouth is. When she tried out Muay thai, she got into the ring with Jorina Baars, one of the toughest women in the game at the time. Baars beat her in convincing fashion to take a unanimous decision win, but that clearly didn’t stopped Cris’ star from rising, or change her attitude towards fighting the toughest competition she can get.
So Cyborg is serious. We imagine Braekhus would be willing. Both women compete for promoters that operate under DAZN. It all seems really easy to put together. The only question now is when the Coronavirus will allow combat sports to get back underway.