The WBC and WBO junior-middleweight champion Ema Kozin has been unable to get a visa to enter the United States and thus is not able to defend her titles on Saturday against Cecilia Braekhus on Golden Boy Promotions’ date at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 

Norway’s Braekhus, 42 years old, will instead square off against Maricela Cornejo, 37, for the WBC interim title. Kozin, incidentally, is from Slovenia.

Cornejo potentially represents a step up in class for Braekhus, who once looked unbeatable at welterweight and held world titles from 2009 through to 2020, when she lost to Jessica McCaskill. 

She also lost the rematch before moving up to junior middleweight. In her past fight she drew with Terri Harper in a fight for the WBA and WBO titles.

Cornejo is 3-0 since losing to Clarissa Shields in 2023.