Nina Meinke is prepared to carry on the mission set forth by Amanda Serrano.
The number-one ranked IBF featherweight is set to challenge for the vacant title. Meinke will face former three-division titlist Daniela Bermudez. Their bout will be contested over twelve, three-minute rounds on Sept. 21 at Boxsporthalle Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany.
The winner will fill the void left behind by Serrano (47-2-1, 31 knockouts), who relinquished the title on July 19.
Serrano and Meinke (18-3, 4 KOs) were due to meet on March 2 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The terms for that championship fight were also set for twelve, three minute rounds. Serrano was due to defend her RING, WBA, IBF and WBO championship. The fight was canceled literally at the last minute when the Puerto Rican southpaw was not medically cleared due to a burnt cornea suffered prior to the weigh-in.
Meinke remained the top contender in line for the belt. However, Serrano subsequently agreed to a far more lucrative rematch with Ireland’s Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs). They will meet on Nov. 15 for Taylor’s undisputed 140-pound championship.
Serrano still holds the RING, WBA and WBO featherweight titles. She vacated the WBC belt over the sanctioning body’s refusal to budge on the traditional women’s distance of ten, two-minute rounds.
Meinke will enter her second career title fight. The 31-year-old southpaw from Berlin dropped a competitive ten-round decision to then-unbeaten IBF featherweight titlist Sarah Mahfoud in April 2022. Six wins have followed, though she has not fought since an Oct. 28 decision over Laura Ledezma in Berlin.
Argentina’s Bermudez (32-4-3, 12 KOs) will make her second attempt to become a four-division titlist.
Her previous bid ended in a March 2021 ninth-round knockout to Serrano in Old San Juan. Bermudez moved up in weight after having previously held titles at 115, 118 and 122.
Bermudez, 35, has since won three in a row, including back-to-back knockout victories. The fight versus Meinke will come exactly 52 weeks from her last ring appearance. Bermudez knocked out Lucrecia Anabella Manzur in the third round of their Sept. 23 regional title fight in Villa Maria, Argentina.
READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE RING FOR FREE VIA THE NEW APP NOW. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO ACCESS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF BACK ISSUES.
The post Nina Meinke-Daniela Bermudez IBF Title Fight Set At 12, 3-Minute Rounds On Sept. 21 In Hamburg appeared first on The Ring.
