Nina Meinke is willing to continue the mission outlined by Amanda Serrano.
The number one ranked IBF featherweight will 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 September 21 at Boxsporthalle Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany.
The winner will fill the void left by Serrano (47-2-1, 31 knockouts), who relinquished the title on July 19.
Serrano and Meinke (18-3, 4 KOs) were scheduled to meet on March 2nd in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The terms for that championship bout were also set for twelve, three-minute rounds. Serrano would defend her RING, WBA, IBF and WBO championships. The fight was literally canceled at the last minute when the Puerto Rican southpaw was not medically cleared due to a burned cornea suffered prior to the weigh-in.
Meinke still remained the leading contender in line for the belt. However, Serrano subsequently agreed to a much more lucrative rematch with Ireland’s Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs). They will meet on November 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 move to 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 ten-round contested decision to then-undefeated IBF featherweight titlist Sarah Mahfoud in April 2022. Six wins followed, although she hasn’t fought since an October 28 decision over Laura Ledezma in Berlin.
Argentina’s Bermudez (32-4-3, 12 KOs) will make her second attempt at becoming a four-division titleholder.
Her previous bid ended in a March 2021 ninth-round knockout of Serrano in Old San Juan. Bermudez moved up in weight after previously holding titles at 115, 118 and 122.
Bermudez, 35, has since won three in a row, including back-to-back knockout victories. The fight against Meinke will come exactly 52 weeks from her last ring appearance. Bermudez knocked out Lucrecia Anabella Manzur in the third round of their September 23 regional title fight in Villa Maria, Argentina.
