German women’s boxing is on the rise. Nina Meinke wants to successfully defend her IBF belt in Rostock – but she’s feeling the pressure.
Nina Meinke has been warned. After the “bloodbath” in Hamburg, the German boxing world champion wants to successfully defend her IBF belt in Rostock – but the goddaughter of former champion Sven Ottke is approaching the rematch against Argentina’s Daniela Bermudez in a new role.
“When you’re working towards a title, you’re the hunter. Now I’m the hunted,” Meinke told BoxSport magazine ahead of Saturday night’s fight.
The 32-year-old, whose fighting name is “The Brave,” emphasized that she “will not give up the IBF belt under any circumstances.” Meinke defeated Bermudez on points in September to win the world featherweight title (up to 57.2 kilograms). After an accidental headbutt in the second round, blood flowed profusely from a laceration on Meinke’s head into her eyes.
“The cut made everything a bit more spectacular and we women showed that we are warriors,” Meinke said after her 19th victory in 22 professional fights.
German women’s boxing is on the rise in general. In addition to Meinke, Tina Rupprecht, who was crowned the undisputed world champion in the atomweight division in April, has been making positive headlines recently. In the public eye, Meinke is somewhat overshadowed by her compatriot. “First of all, huge respect and congratulations to Tina. What she has achieved is great, also for German boxing,” said Meinke: “But yes, I think it’s a bit of a shame that my own success was so overshadowed at the time.”
Now Meinke wants to cause a sensation again, and the rematch will also go the full distance of twelve rounds of three minutes each. She pushed herself hard in training camp in Spain. “Expectations are rising, of course – and so is the pressure,” said Meinke. “But that’s exactly what motivates me even more.”
