Nina Meinke is the new featherweight boxing world champion after an intense fight. The Berliner defeated the Argentinian Daniela Bermudez on points in Hamburg on Saturday and won the world title according to the IBF version. In Meinke’s 22nd professional fight, her first over the men’s distance of twelve rounds of three minutes each, 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 the men. A big thank you to my opponent for that.”
Towards the end of the fight, Meinke was already extremely worn out, and her carers used the breaks in treatment to stop heavy bleeding on her face. But the Berlin native did not let that stop her from doing what she wanted.
For the goddaughter of former champion Sven Ottke, who had previously held the WIBF belt, things came full circle in the Hanseatic city. In March, Meinke was actually supposed to compete against four-time world champion Amanda Serrano in San Juan/Puerto Rico, but the duel was cancelled around an hour before it was due to an eye injury suffered by the star boxer. A rescheduled date was not possible.
Serrano then relinquished his IBF featherweight title in order to move up a weight class and work towards his highly anticipated rematch with Irish boxing icon Katie Taylor in November. As a result, Meinke’s fight against Bermudez for the vacated title was scheduled.
Source: www.sport.de
