Women's boxing takes a monumental step forward this weekend when Amanda Serrano defends her featherweight world championships against Nina Meinke in the main event in her home country.
Serrano is the heavy favorite and will main event the event with her promoter Jake Paul also fighting on the undercard, while relative rookie Meinke looks to repeat the feat of Katie Taylor by claiming a victory over "The Real Deal".
We'll take a look at the fight and break it down, providing our best free boxing picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash along the way.
| Boxing |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Serrano | -4000 | -5000 | -5000 |
| Nina Meinke | +1400 | +1200 | +1300 |
Amanda Serrano vs Nina Meinke information
- Saturday, March 2nd 2024
- 19:00 ET start time
- El Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- WBA, WBO, IBF featherweight champion (126-pounds)
- 12 x 2 minute rounds
Amanda Serrano vs Nina Meinke odds
- Amanda Serrano - (-4000)
- Nina Meinke - (+1400)
The reigning champion comes into this fight as the overwhelming favorite to retain her belts, being priced at -4000 by BetOnline. You can see BetOnline best bonus offers here.
Serrano has a professional record of 46-2-1, consisting of 30 wins via knockout in the process and several world titles along the way.
"The Real Deal" ran up a stunning 28-fight win streak before she ran into Katie Taylor back in April 2022 where she suffered the second professional defeat of her career via a split decision.
Since then however she has gone on to win her next four fights in a row, earning decision victories over each of Sarah Mahfoud, Erika Cruz, Heather Hardy and most recently Danila Ramos.
On the other hand she'll be coming up against Meinke, who has a professional record of just 10-3 with three of those victories coming via knockout.
Meinke recently went on a three-fight winning streak by defeating all of Lucie Sedlackova, Helene Lascombe and Edina Kiss via unanimous decision.
That set her up for a world title opportunity to take on Sarah Mahfoud in her last outing, however she was dominated and fell to a unanimous decision defeat.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
Amanda Serrano vs Nina Meinke preview
Meinke will be forced to utilize her reach and height advantage to the best of her abilities if she wants to have any sort of chance of winning this fight.
The German has noteworthy footwork and a powerful left hand, but her lack of pop means she struggles to really land it flush as much as she should do. If she is capable of finding a way to use her range and footwork to pop jabs and set up the strike, she could really frustrate Serrano and find herself a path to victory.
But even with all of that, Meinke will be relying heavily upon Serrano having an off-night because there is a huge gap in quality, power and skill between these fighters. There’s a reason why Serrano is a -4000 online betting favorite, and it's likely nothing to do with the fact she'll be in front of her home crowd.
In contrast, the aggressive Puerto Rican has 30 KOs on her record and is a world-class caliber fighter. When faced with such a timid power puncher, without worrying about a knockdown or knockout, we can expect the hometown favorite to push forward and deliver the blistering strikes she’s known for.
An early finish is highly unlikely just because of Serrano's style, and it should be noted that she is without a knockout in just under three years. But she is more than capable and this type of opponent is there for her to make a statement and put on a show.
Boxing picks: Amanda Serrano via knockout @ -150
As Serrano takes a trip back to her native Puerto Rico, she’ll have a soft-touch opponent. Meinke isn’t a bad fighter, but she’s well out of Serrano’s league and doesn’t possess the qualities, such as size or speed, to trouble her.
The only featherweight fighter really capable of causing Serrano any trouble is Taylor, as we've already seen, but aside from her Serrano is in a league of her own.
Meinke once competed at lightweight, where she suffered a TKO loss to Katie Taylor in 2017, only to move down in weight one year later and has remained there since. This is a fighter coming off a loss last year who has never really broken away from the European circuit and into the world stage.
Serrano will be sharp and fired up after claiming the main event slot in this event, while Meinke will be rusty. This seems like a a tune-up fight and "The Real Deal" will surely not let the opportunity pass her up to claim a knockout victory despite the fact she is arguably now on a downward trajectory as she leaves her prime behind.
I expect Serrano to deliver a satisfying performance to her hometown fans, and wouldn’t expect anything less but a dominant win that ends in a finish.
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