Women's Boxing: Ina Menzer Biography

5'6" featherweight/junior lightweight Ina Menzer was born in Atbasar, Khazakhstan on November 10 1980. She now lives in M�nchengladbach, 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 126� 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", 126� 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 (127� 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 (129� 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 (129� lbs) of Slovakia who fell to 2-1.

On May 10, 2005 at Pueblo Espa�ol in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Ina (129� 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 (125� lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (97-93,98-92,98-92) decision over Silke Weickenmeier (124� 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 B�rdelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Ina (125� lbs) defended her WIBF Featherweight title with a TKO of Galina Giumliiska (123� 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 (125� lbs) won by a TKO when Maribel Santana (122� 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 (125� lbs) won a ten-round unanimous decision over Luz Florez (125� lbs) of Colombia, who fell to 1-1-0 (0 KOs).

On December 2, 2006 at the Estrel Convention Center in Berlin, Germany, Ina (125� lbs) defended the WIBF Featherweight title with an eighth-round TKO of Kasha Chamblin (5'5", 123� 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 K�nig-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 Mo�itos, Colombia. Miranda fell to a claimed (but unverified) 10-2 (5 KO's).

On July 28, 2007 at the Burg-W�chter-Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany, Ina (125� lbs) won a one-sided 10-round unanimous (100-90,99-92,99-91) decision over Jazmin Rivas (124� 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 (125� 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 (125� lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,100-90,99-91) over Adriana Salles (5'7", 124� 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 D�sseldorf, Germany, Ina (125� lbs) retained her WIBF/WBC Featherweight titles by defeating Esther Schouten (125� 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 (125� lbs) won a 10-round majority (96-94,95-95,96-94) decision in a rematch with Esther Schouten (123� 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 K�hne of Berlin when a straight right from Menzer opened a huge gash over K�hne’s left eye. Menzer had started well pressing the action and
scoring with a variety of shots to K�hne's body and head. K�hne relied on her left hand from the get-go, and produced serious swelling around Menzer’s eye. K�hne 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.”
K�hne fell to 15-1 (4 KOs). K�hne retains her WIBF Junior Lightweight belt. [Video]

On July 3, 2010 at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Jeannine Garside (125 lbs) of Windsor, ON, Canada won a ten-round unanimous (98-92,96-94,96-94) decision over Ina Menzer (126 lbs) for the WBC, WBO and WIBF Featherweight titles. As Alexey Sukachev reported: "Garside was a better fighter of two since the starters. She often caught unpredictably rusty Menzer with her left counters and hard overhand right hooks. Garside also did a great job avoiding straight hands by the champion. Rounds two and three were huge in favour of the Canadian, while the fourth was pretty even. Both fighters were fighting inside with their heads dangerously close to one another. Garside was warned by referee Daniel Van De Viele in the fourth. Menzer mounted a slight comeback to take an edge in the fifth. However, Jeannine delivered her best round in the sixth when she landed numerous left hands and forced the titleholder to run at the end of the stanza. Round seven was rather calm and Menzer found some success on her way in rounds eight and nine. Feeling the victory can be illusional on a hostile territory, Garside went in for kill in the last round. She got the better of (Menzer) and even sent her in a legitimate knockdown with a straight left hand, which was amazingly discarded by Van De Viele. It hadn't reflected on finals scorecards though as all three judges had (and rightfully so!) this contest in Jeannine Garside's favour: 96-94 (twice) and 98-92. BoxingScene also scored it 98-92 - for the brand new featherweight multichampion." Garside improved to 10-3-1 (3 KO's) with the win.

The loss came at a bad time for Menzer, as she described in an interview with DerSpiegel: "The contract with our TV partner ran out, so I picked the worst time to lose. You need a great partner for the big fights. When Regina Halmich was boxing it was all a little different. She was practically a boxing pioneer."

On September 24, 2011 at the Dima-Sportcenter in Hamburg, Germany, Ina Menzer returned to the ring after a fourteen-month absence from competition and won a clear eight-round unanimous (80-72,79-73,79-73) decision over Ela Nunez of Jamestown, New York, USA. Nunez fell to 9-11-1 (2 KO's). [Video]

On January 28, 2012 at the Grand Elys�e in Rotherbaum, Hamburg, Germany, Ina Menzer (126� lbs) easily won an eight-round decision over Milena Koleva (128� lbs) of Sliven, Bulkgaria who fell to 3-4-1 (0 KO's) with the loss. Menzer improved her record to 28-1 (10 KO's) with the win. [Video]

On April 21 at the Sport and Congress Center in Schwerin, Germany, Ina Menzer (126 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Doris Koehler (124� lbs) of Moenchengladbach, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, who fell to 8-11-1 (3 KO's) with the loss. [Video]

On October 12, 2012 at the Sporthalle in Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany, Ina Menzer (125� lbs) won the WBO European featherweight title with a late second-round TKO of Ren�ta D�ms�di (123� lbs) of Hungary in a scheduled 10-rounder. Menzer's speed and straighter punching had allowed her to out-hit the slower and less mobile D�ms�di by a wide margin. Domsodi did not appear seriously hurt but the fight was stopped at 1:59 in the second round after Menzer drove D�ms�di along the ropes and into a corner. D�ms�di, who had stepped into the matchup as a late substitute for Loly Mu�oz of Spain, fell to 9-3 (4 KO's) while Menzer improved to 30-1 (11 KO's).

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Page last updated: Sunday, 05 November 2017

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