There wasn’t a moment of hesitation from Nina Meinke when the call came to challenge for the crown.
It didn’t at all matter to the 30-year-old southpaw from Berlin that any fight with reigning featherweight champion Amanda Serrano will now take place over twelve, three-minute rounds. In fact, the former title challenger leaned all the way into the concept.
Within minutes, a deal was made for their lineal and unified featherweight championship to be fought under those terms atop a March 2 DAZN show from Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.
“Much respect to Amanda that she started the equality in boxing,” Meinke said during Thursday’s press conference in San Juan to formally announce the event. “It’s not just talking, it’s doing it. I’m very proud to be a part of it. For me, it was no question not to do it.”
Meinke (18-3, 4KOs) has fought over the traditional two-minute round mark throughout her eight-year career, and never more than ten rounds. This will be her first under a distance normally afforded men’s title fights, as well as her first career fight outside of Europe.
It comes in Serrano’s hometown, as she now lives and trains in her birth town of Carolina, Puerto Rico. The 34-year-old southpaw was raised in Brooklyn but has always represented P.R. in and out of the ring. It was only natural for her team to put together a stacked event for her homecoming headliner, all of which was perfectly fine for Meinke when it came time to enforce her status as the IBF mandatory challenger.
“As soon as we got the information that we were going to fight Amanda Serrano, I was right back in the gym, preparing for it,” noted Meinke. “Nothing really changed for me. We train with men and train three-minute rounds anyway. The training is obviously more intense but I’m used to three-minute rounds. I’m really proud to be a part of this movement.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox