(NOV 20) The officials’ performance overshadowed the WIBF featherweight world championship between Ina Menzer (19-8, 8 KOs) and Laura Serrano (17-3-2, 6 KOs) in Magdeburg on Saturday. Referee Daniel van der Wiele from Belgium showed once more why he is considered one of the world’s best boxing referees, too bad the judges did not match his expertise and class.

Kazakhstan-born Menzer had great difficulties with the Mexican southpaw Serrano. The unorthodox fighting style of the 40-year old Serrano with her surprisingly high number of body punches seemed to come as a surprise to Menzer and apparently were not easy to handle. Of her last five matches Serrano had lost three. Her professional debut 1994 had shown a controversial draw against Christy Martin. Already her next fight made her WIBF world champion but for lack of opponents she never had the opportunity to defend her title. Against Menzer she showed once more her potential. The judges scored as follows: Zoltan Enyedi (Hungary) 97-93, Jörg Illinseer (Germany) 98-92 and André van Grootenbruel (Belgium) 97-93. Every single journalist the author talked to at the ringside had seen a draw. Although Universum Box-Promotion is trying to introduce Ina Menzer as Regina Halmich’s successor, she did not look the queen of female boxing in this match.

In Magdeburg, that title would have gone to Asiye Ozlem Sahin (3-0, 1 KO) The Ludwigsburg boxer Sahin with her striking long hair encountered Renata Depciyh from Katowice, Poland, who had her professional debut. One punch was enough for Depciyh to realize that entering the ring with Sahin had been a big mistake. Consequently, she decided to take to her heels. Sahin however was not irritated by her opponent’s preference for running instead of boxing, stoically she tracked Depciyh down. In the third round she had cornered her opponent, a left punch and a right hook to Depciyh’s temple neatly sent her to the canvass. The coach immediately threw in the towel. Sugar Sahin has proven once more that her nom-de-guerre fits her well.

In the press conference following her title defense in Magdeburg, the old and new WIBF featherweight world champion Ina Menzer, expressed satisfaction with her performance: “I saw the fight exactly as the judges. It was tough. My opponent was really difficult but I landed more and the clearer punches.” Menzer continued: “We were not sure before the match what to expect from her. So, we just expected a dangerous opponent and that is what she turned out to be. The plan was simply to outbox her, but planning is easier than doing.”

The opponent Laura Serrano was very polite but refused to comment on the match. She confirmed however a rumour that had been spreading among the journalists before the fight and said that she had been ill before her arrival in Germany. She also refused to comment on the question if she was going to enter the ring again in the future.

It would be too bad if this had been the last fight between these two fighters. Especially after seeing this match, it would be very interesting to watch Ina Menzer encountering a Laura Serrano who is fit and in good shape.

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