The big historic fight began shortly after 9 p.m. in Hamburg. The tension was palpable – how would the fight develop over the newly changed distance? At first it was Bermudez who initiated some of the action. Meinke showed a good eye and countered skillfully. As the round progressed, however, she increasingly took control, seemed more active and consequently won the opening bout.

The second round began in a similar way. Meinke kept her good eye and countered again, but a change was imminent. There was a clash of heads, and Meinke suffered a cut above his forehead, which began to bleed heavily. The cut was in a harmless place, but the blood that was coming out was annoying. After a brief inspection, the fight was allowed to continue. However, the situation led to increased heat, which was helped by the large amount of blood, which made the fight more confusing from then on.

Meinke had predicted before the fight that the fight would only really get going in the fifth round, but the previous rounds were also characterized by good intensity. However, the heavily bleeding cut remained the dominant theme. The cutman tried his best to stop the bleeding, but was not completely successful. Bermudez followed up and applied increasing pressure. The fifth round belonged to her, while Meinke was particularly strong when she moved out to the side. But Bermudez often managed to put Meinke under pressure. Both women delivered a thrilling finish – it was a tough and good fight.

The second half of the fight began, and the crucial question was how the change in distance would affect the later rounds. Both boxers went at a high pace, with no signs of any problems with their fitness. Bermudez even stopped during the breaks between rounds to carry on fighting. An evenly matched fight entered the final phase, but now the first dirty moves began to become more frequent. In rounds 10 and 11 in particular, there were more clinch situations, but also hits. In the last round, both gave it their all. Bermudez landed some hard hits, but Meinke, bloodied and brave, fought back. The audience in Hamburg stood up, and the judges had the difficult task of determining a winner.

Mostly one-sided ratings and an overjoyed Meinke

Boxing: P2M Box-Promotion, Hamburg boxes! Vol.4, , Hamburg, 21.09.2024 IBF World Championship: Nina Meinke (GER) vs. Daniela Romina Bermudez (ARG). © Torsten Helmke

Bermudez may have had an advantage in terms of the number of hits, while Meinke showed technically cleaner actions. One judge scored the fight a draw at 114-114, while two others gave clearer scores of 119-109 and 118-111, which seemed surprising. In the end, Nina Meinke was crowned the new world champion by majority decision – the joy was boundless.

After the fight, a visibly moved Meinke shouted: “We made history!” She also admitted that the cut had irritated her at first… but that was just part of this phenomenal story.