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5'6" featherweight/junior lightweight Ina Menzer was
born in Atbasar, Khazakhstan on November 10 1980. She now lives in
Mönchengladbach, Germany, and is trained by Michael Timm and managed by
Klaus-Peter Kohl.
In the 60-kg division at the first German Women's Amateur Championships in Meppen,
Germany in November 2003, Ina defeated Diana Meindl of BC Schwandorf by a 36-12
margin in the semifinal, then bested Carmen Falke of VfK Celle by 27-14 in the final.
Ina made her pro debut on March 30, 2004 at Saaltheater Geulen
in Aachen,
Germany, weighing in at 126¾ lbs and defeating another debut fighter,
Zsanett Erod (130 lbs) of Dorog, Hungary by a third-round TKO in a scheduled four-rounder.
On May 29, 2004 at Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany, she won by a first-round
TKO over debut fighter Laura Stefanescu of Romania in a fight that had
been scheduled for four. According to WBAN
correspondent Ewan Whyte, "The Romanian walked into a beautifully timed
left from Ina Menzer that had her thinking about a career change
barely a minute into the fight. She glared accusingly at her corner as if
to say 'they're not paying me enough for this!' Looking at it again, I'm
not sure they're paying Jennifer Lopez enough, and there was more to come.
As the standing eight count was completed, it was pretty obvious she didn't
want to go on, but they gave her the thumbs down (or up, depending upon
which historian you believe), and Menzer did what she had to do: another
left (again in the mouth as they closed) had the young Romanian going
backwards, and a few seconds later it was all over: Menzer lunged, pulled
back, Stefanescu did a kind of doggy paddle in the space the German had
just vacated, a range-finding left from Menzer, a right to the liver, a
left hook to the cheekbone turning her face nicely to the side as she pawed
blindly with the left and even as she was pulling her hands back
frantically to cover her face, Menzer's right, which she threw without
preparation to gain a tempo, caught her hard on the same cheekbone, sending
her pigtail flying in a high arc over her left shoulder to slap against her
bosom at just the same instant as she landed heavily in the corner on her
backside. She rose unsteadily at the count of five, half-stumbling as she
did so, fiddled with the elastic of her shorts, hung her head, and looked
away when the referee asked whether she wanted to continue."
 On June 22, 2004 at Sportzentrum in Telfs, Austria, Ina (129 lbs,
at left in picture) won
a four round decision over Petra Jachmanova (5'2", 126¾ lbs) of Slovakia who
fell to 1-6-1 (0 KO).
On September 21, 2004 at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Ina (129 lbs)
won a four-round unanimous (39-37) decision over Viktoria Olenik (130 lbs)
of the Ukraine.
Olenik fell to 0-5-1 with the loss.
On February 15, 2005 at Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Ina (127¾
lbs) TKO's Julia Kulikova of Russia in the third round of a scheduled four-roounder.
Kulikova fell to 0-2 with the loss.
On March 29, 2005 at Sporthalle in Hamburg, Wandsbek, Germany, Ina (129¾
lbs) won a six-round decision over Viktoria Olenik (129 lbs) of the Ukraine, who fell to
1-6-1.
On April 19, 2005 at Hermann-Wielandner-Halle in Bischofshofen, Salzburg,
Austria, Ina (129 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54) decision over Jarka
Blahova (129¼ lbs) of Slovakia who fell to 2-1.
On May 10, 2005 at Pueblo Español in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Ina (129½
lbs) knocked out Austria Urbaez Urena (129 lbs, aka Judith Urbaez) of La
Rmana, Dominican Republic in the
first round of a scheduled eight-round bout. Urbaez fell to 5-5-1 (2 KO's) with the
loss.
On July 9, 2005 at Life Sportpark Herrenkrug in Magdeburg, Germany, Ina
TKO'd Darya Voitko of Minsk, Belarus in the second round of a scheduled 8-rounder. Voitko fell
to 2-2.
On September 10, 2005 at DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, Ina (126 lbs) won
the WIBF Intercontinental Featherweight title with a ten-round unanimous
(99-91,100-90,99-91) decision over Damaris Muthoni (5'4", 124 lbs) of
Nairobi, Kenya. Muthoni fell to
5-3-1 (1 KO).
Winning the WIBF title from Weickenmeier
On October 22, 2005 at the Brandberge Arena in Halle,
Germany, Ina (125½ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (97-93,98-92,98-92) decision over
Silke Weickenmeier (124½ lbs)
of Speyer, Germany for the WIBF Featherweight title. Weickenmeier fell to 17-6-3 (1 KO)
with the loss.
On December 3, 2005 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Ina (125½ lbs)
defended her WIBF Featherweight title with a TKO of Galina Giumliiska (123½ lbs) of Sofia,
Bulgaria at 1:39 in the sixth round. Giumliiska fell to 6-8 (1 KO) with the
loss.
 On April 8, 2006 at the Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany, Ina (125¾ lbs) won by a
TKO when Maribel Santana (122¼ lbs) of La Romana in the Dominican Republic
elected not to come out of her corner for the fourth round. Santana fell to
6-2-1 (3 KO's).
On May 27, 2006 at the Zenith-Kulturhalle in Munich, Germany, Ina (126 lbs) won
a ten-round majority (97-94,98-93,97-97) decision over Zarika Njeri (124 lbs) of
Kenya. WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte described the match as "messy
and inconclusive: neither fighter was ever in any trouble: needless to say, they
gave it to the home fighter, who in this case happened to be Menzer." Menzer
admitted it was her hardest fight so far and that she took a long time to get
into it. Njeri dropped
to 10-3-1.
On September 9, 2006 in Magdeburg, Germany, Ina (125¾ lbs) won a ten-round
unanimous decision over Luz Florez (125¼ lbs) of Colombia, who fell to 1-1-0 (0
KOs).
On December 2, 2006 at the Estrel Convention Center
in Berlin, Germany, Ina (125¾ lbs) defended the WIBF Featherweight title with an
eighth-round TKO of Kasha Chamblin (5'5", 123½ lbs)
of
Lafayette, Louisiana. Menzer caught Chamblin with a straight right hand
with approximately 20 seconds left in the eighth round. Chamblin, making her
first title-bout appearance, went down for the first time in her career. She
quickly rose, but the referee stopped the bout with approximately 10 seconds
left in the round.
According
to WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Chamblin
was a worthy challenger – stylish, fit and full of heart – but she read the
exchanges less well than her opponent, missed widely with her best shots, and
did scant mischief with the rest.
An exchange in the first round encapsulated the
entire fight: a jab so anaemic from Chamblin it may even have been a feint,
followed by an uppercut that did no damage, refuted by a right cross to the face
that did; a furious but ineffectual flurry of four shots in reply from Chamblin
interrupted by a clubbing left hook to the cheekbone that bent her neck; and
then a second – a punishment shot, almost – for good measure, that knocked her
sideways and left her blinking and covering up".
Chamblin fell to 8-1-0 (4 KO's).
On 28 April, 2007 at König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. Ina Menzer
(126 lbs) retained the WIBF Featherweight title for the sixth time with a
one-sided ten-round unanimous (100-90,99-92,99-91) decision over Maria Andrea
Miranda (123 lbs) of Moñitos, Colombia. Miranda fell to a claimed (but unverified) 10-2 (5 KO's).
 On July 28, 2007 at
the Burg-Wächter-Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany, Ina (125¼ lbs)
won a one-sided 10-round unanimous (100-90,99-92,99-91) decision over Jazmin Rivas
(124½ lbs) of Torreon, Mexico for the
WIBF Featherweight title. Rivas fell
to 14-5-0 (7 KO's).
On November 17, 2007 in Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt,
Germany, Ina retained her WIBF Featherweight belt with a 10-round
unanimous (97-93,97-93,98-92) decision over Laura
Serrano of Mexico.
According
to WBAN correspondent Torben L., "Although Menzer controlled the ring
throughout the bout, the smaller and more aggressive Mexican kept her busy all
the way, and was able to get through Menzer's defence with more punches than
usual for the technically well skilled German. Southpaw Serrano occasionally
succeeded in confusing Menzer by changing stance, and occasionally succeeded
with telling blows, but most of her punches were lacking in precision to have a
serious effect; while Menzer had obviously problems getting through with her
usually very reliable left jabs. 40-year old Serrano had proclaimed before the
fight, that a defeat would mean the end of her career in the ring, and she
confirmed this after the fight. She also expressed her disappointment at the
verdict, and was of the opinion that she had won the fight. Under all
circumstances, she gave the fans a fight showing all the best of Mexican
virtues: relentless aggression, a big fighting heart and giving it all until the
last bell." Serrano
fell to 16-4-2 (6 KO's).
Sandy Tsagouris battles Ina Menzer in March 2008 On March 8, 2008 at
KoenigPALAST in Krefeld, Germany
Ina (125¼ lbs) battled unbeaten Canadian Sandy Tsagouris (126 lbs) of Brampton,
Ontario to a hard-fought unanimous (96-94,97-33,97-93) decision for the WIBF Featherweight and the vacant WBC Featherweight title. Menzer
was badly cut over her right eye by a clash of heads, but battled through the
injury to edge a fired-up Tsagouris in a hard-fought, even battle. Menzer improved to
20-0 (8 KO's) while Tsagouris fell to 7-1.
On May 31, 2008 at Burg-Waechter
Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany, Ina (126 lbs)
easily retained her WBA and WIBF belts by stopping Stacey Reile (124 lbs) of
Miami, Florida at 1:39 in the fourth round of a scheduled ten-rounder. WBAN
correspondent Torben L.
wrote
"Round one was a typical feeling out round. Menzer stayed on the outside,
presumably bearing in mind the deep cut she sustained in her last fight against
Tsagouris. Rounds two and three saw more action, and Menzer got past Reile's
inadequate defences with some telling punches. Reile was caught by a vicious
right hook right on the bell ending round three, which caused her to stagger.
She probably would have gone down, if the referee hadn't held on to her. Reile
tried to put more pressure on in round four, but she simply didn't have the
tools to trouble Menzer, while the champion found out, that a combination of a
left to the body which made Reile lower her left hand, followed by a right hook
to the head, worked every time. Menzer threw that combination three times within
the last 40 seconds, and the third time it sent the over challenged Reile to the
canvas. She got up before the end of the count, but her corner made the decision
easy for the referee, by indicating they wanted the fight stopped."
Reile fell to 8-1 (3 KO's).
On November 22, 2008 at
Stadthalle in Rostock, Germany
Ina (125½ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,100-90,99-91) over Adriana Salles
(5'7", 124½ lbs) of Brazil for the WIBF and WBC Featherweight titles. Erik
Schmidt of Boxingnews24.com
wrote "The first round proved to be very close, as Salles
landed hard combinations and pressured the shorter Menzer constantly ... backing
her up with power shots. Menzer, a slow starter, mainly jabbed and looked for
openings. In the second round, Salles held and hit early in the round nailing
Menzer with two hard right hands while holding on with her left. Salles would
follow with three big left hooks to the head of Menzer. However, in the second
half of the round, Menzer came on, landing powerful combinations in the waning
seconds of the round to steal the round. In the third, Salles continued to give
Menzer a lot of problems, staying busy and landing a lot of hard shots to the
head ... Menzer came back well in the fourth round, landing hard right hands and
stinging jabs. However, Salles continued giving her a lot of problems, pounding
Menzer with combinations from long range and taking advantage over her longer
arms.Salles did well in the fifth, staying busy and nailing Menzer with hard
uppercuts to the head and hooks to the body ... Salles was doing well in the
sixth round until being staggered at the bell by a hard right hand from Menzer.
It appeared that Salles lost her concentration in the last 10 second and when
the bell sounded, she seemed to let off, allowing Menzer to stagger her with a
right hand-left jab combination. In the seventh round, Menzer went right hand
crazy, going back to the well for what worked for her in the previous round but
going way over board with it. Nevertheless, despite being very predictable,
Menzer landed often ... with right hand shots and staggered Salles early on with
another big right. Menzer’s left cheek was beginning to show signs of swelling
in the round after eating a couple of big desperate right hands from Salles. In
the eighth round, Salles began to look frustrated, seemingly unable to stop
Menzer’s big right hand shots that kept coming. The round, however, was very
close mostly due to Menzer’s nonexistent defense which allowed Salles to land
pretty much everything she threw in the round. In the 9th and 10th, Menzer
dominated the action with her hard right hand shots which made it tough on
Salles, who by this time was looking both tired and badly frustrated, as if she
knew she was way behind in the fight and couldn’t do anything about it."
Salles fell to 11-4-1 (5 KO's).
On January 17, 2009 at
Burg-Waechter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany,
Ina (125¾ lbs)
retained her WIBF/WBC Featherweight titles by defeating
Esther Schouten (125¾ lbs) of Hoorn, Holland by a
10-round unanimous (96-94,97-93,97-93) decision.
According
to WBAN’s Correspondent Torben L., "The
two top class boxers made the best possible advertising for women's boxing,
showing very good skills and determination in a close, high paced fight. The
early rounds in particular were very even and both women got through with some
telling right hands.
Schouten's best round was the 2nd, but she
received her payback in the 3rd, when Menzer got her right hand going. The WBC
rules stipulate that the score must be announced after the 3rd and the 6th
round. Menzer was ahead by 29-28 after the first three and she had doubled her
lead to 58-56 after the sixth. Schouten had increasing problems in finding her
range and catching her opponent in later rounds, while Ina Menzer's skills as a
counter puncher became more evident. The Dutch corner realised the point deficit
had grown too big, and told Schouten to go after a knockout in the last two
rounds, but this was easier said than done against a both technical and tactical
proficient boxer like Menzer. Despite the defeat, Schouten was able to prove
that she is back at the top of women's boxing, after winning her far more
important fight against cancer."
Menzer improved to 23-0 (9 KO's) while Schouten fell to 22-5-1 (11 KO's).
WBAN named Ina Menzer its Fighter of the Month for February 2009 on the strength
of her win over Esther Schouten.
On October 10, 2009 at Stadthalle in Rostock,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Ina Menzer (125¾ lbs) won a 10-round majority
(96-94,95-95,96-94) decision in a rematch with
Esther Schouten (123½ lbs).
According to WBAN correspondent Torben L.,
"In the rematch, the fight turned out
to be a different story, with a confident challenger going on the
attack from the start of the first bell. Menzer began with her guard
much lower than usual, which an aggressive Schouten knew how to
capitalize on. The first three rounds were pretty even, but Schouten
seemed to have the upper hand in rounds 4 to 7 as well as the 10th,
while Menzer had her best in time in rounds 8 and 9. Both Menzer and Schouten are technically
well-rounded boxers, but Schouten's better game plan very nearly cost Menzer
her titles. However, Menzer did manage to hang on to them by the skin of her
teeth, with a majority decision ... a draw or even a win for Schouten could also have been an
acceptable result of this close and well fought bout." Menzer improved to 24-0 (9 KO's) while Schouten fell to
23-6-1 (11 KO's).
On January 9, 2010 at Bordelandhalle in
Magdeburg, Germany, Ina Menzer defended her WBC,
WIBF and WBO with a sixth round technical knockout over previously unbeaten
Ramona Kühne of Berlin when a straight right from Menzer opened a huge gash over
Kühne’s left eye. Menzer had started well pressing the action and
scoring with a variety of shots to Kühne's body and head. Kühne relied on her
left hand from the get-go, and produced serious swelling around Menzer’s eye.
Kühne worked herself into the fight around the fourth as she connected with good
combinations but Menzer turned the tide when she landed the big right that ended
the fight after 57 seconds of the round. “It was really hard today”,
Menzer said. “Ramona did a great job. But it was my day today.”
Menzer moved to 26-0 (10 KOs) while Kühne fell to 15-1 (4 KOs). Kühne retains
her WIBF Junior Lightweight belt.
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge
digital photos you can go to the
WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Saturday, 23 January 2010 |
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