Nina Meinke is the new world champion in the featherweight category. The Berliner defies heavy bleeding in her face and fights her way to the finish line.
Nina Meinke is the new featherweight boxing world champion after an intense fight. The Berliner defeated Daniela Bermudez from Argentina on points in Hamburg on Saturday to win the IBF world title. In Meinke’s 22nd professional fight, her first over the men’s distance of twelve rounds of three minutes, the 31-year-old celebrated her 19th victory.
“I can’t believe that this dream has come true,” said Meinke after the fight at the ring microphone: “We women have shown that we can do the same as men. A big thank you also goes to my opponent for that.”
Meinke defies heavy bleeding
Towards the end of the fight, Meinke was already extremely marked, and her team used the treatment breaks to stop heavy bleeding in her face. However, the native Berliner did not let this deter her.
For the goddaughter of former champion Sven Ottke, who had previously held the WIBF belt, this marked the end of a cycle in the Hanseatic city. In March, Meinke was supposed to have competed against four-time world champion Amanda Serrano in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but the duel was canceled about an hour before it began due to an eye injury sustained by the star boxer. A new date was not set.
Serrano then relinquished the IBF featherweight title in order to work towards the highly anticipated rematch against Ireland’s boxing icon Katie Taylor in November and to move up to a higher weight class. As a result, Meinke’s fight against Bermudez was scheduled for the vacated title.