Terri Harper and Ceclia Braekhus were supposed to meet back in May. The fight fell through on the morning of the fight after Baekhus woke up with flu like symptoms but they finally got in the ring tonight in Sheffield. Harper’s WBA super welterweight title and the vacant WBO belt were on the line.

Former lightweight champion, Harper, leapt up 19lbs to beat Hannah Rankin and win the WBA title last year. On Friday she weighed in 4 1/2 lbs inside the super welterweight limit and looked the much smaller fighter. Importantly, however, she was also the faster fighter.

Braekhus is a true legend of women’s boxing. ‘The First Lady’ reigned as the undisputed welterweight champion between 2014 and 2020, etching her name in the record books. Time waits for nobody and the 42 years old initially struggled to match her younger, quicker opponent.

Harper took time to feel her way into the fight, employing plenty of movement and quickly darting back out of range after letting her punches go. Braekhus took the center of the ring and worked at a steady pace but she just didn’t have the speed of foot to close the distance.

As the rounds passed, Harper was able to establish her right hand. Braekhus’ moments of success came when Harper held her feet and let more than two shots go, the Norwegian was able to land a left hook in those moments. There wasn’t much variety to Harper’s work but there didn’t need to be. The simple, straight shots and movements were working and Braekhus didn’t seem able to change the pattern of the fight.

Braekhus’ experience finally came into play as the rounds passed. She began to time Harper’s attacks and began to have more success. In the ninth, Braekhus landed a nice one two and was able to finally create a little pressure but her punches had little effect on Harper who - despite starting to look a little tired - got back on her toes in the tenth. Braekhus continued to plug away but couldn’t make a serious impression on Harper.

The scorecards were something of a shock. Bob Williams’ card of 97-93 in favor of Harper was rendered redundant by David Singh and Giulio Piras who both scored the fight 95-95. The result was a majority draw. Harper retained her WBA title whilst the WBO belt remains vacant.

Harper and Braekhus been focused on each other all year and still haven’t settled matters. Maybe they will see each other again.