Scouted by the Chinese state sports system, Cai was sent a sports boarding school and trained in freestyle wrestling before switching to kickboxing, Muay Thai and finally boxing.[4]
She made her professional boxing debut in September 2014, defeating Li Yun Ting in Kunming, China.[4]
Cai challenged IBF female minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada at the Cotai Arena in Macau on 30 January 2017, winning by split decision.[4][5][6]
She successfully defended her title via unanimous decision against Gretchen Abaniel at Macau East Asian Games Dome on 28 October 2017, before vacating the championship.[4]
Cai became a two-time world champion by defeating Ana Victoria Polo on a unanimous decision for the vacant IBO female minimumweight title in Haikou, China, on 9 June 2018.[4]
She then switched to amateur boxing and competed for China at the 2019 Women's World Boxing Championships in Russia, where she was eliminated in the quarter-finals.[4]