On HBO?s swan song, Cecilia Braekhus ended the night by retaining her undisputed women?s welterweight titles.
Braekhus defeated Aleksandra Magdziak-Lopes by unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 99-91) to retain her WBA, WBO, WBC, IBF and IBO titles to close out the show. It was Braekhus? third title defense of 2018 and second on HBO.
It was a completely one-sided affair as Braekhus dominated the fight by repeatedly throwing power punches and pressuring her opponent to defend throughout most of the fight. Magdziak-Lopes only managed to land 51 of her 449 total punches, which is only good for 11 percent while Braekhus landed 143 of her 349 total punches (41 percent).
Braekhus became the first woman to win a fight that was aired live on HBO when she retained her titles against Kali Reis as the co-main event to the May 5 card headlined by Gennady Golovkin?s knockout win over Vanes Martirosyan. With Claressa Shields defending her middleweight titles as the opening fight of the December 8 card, the final broadcast would also be the first one to feature two women?s title fights.
The fight officially ended HBO?s long history with boxing as the network stated in late September that it would stop regular boxing broadcasts start in 2019. The fight took place at the StubHub Center in California and featured a special montage celebrating HBO?s storied affiliation with boxing as well as bringing back long-time HBO broadcaster Larry Merchant.