Who is Maria Lindberg?
This weekend, on November 5, Scot Hannah Rankin and Swede Maria Lindberg will clash for the IBO and WBA Female Super Welterweight Titles at Tottenham Hotspur FC’s Banqueting Hall live on Fightzone.
Despite recently visiting our shores to challenge WBO World middleweight champ Savannah Marshall in April, she accepted the championship fight at just a week's notice so not much is known about the European still, so BBN found out some interesting facts about the visiting fighter right here:
Maria Camilla Lindberg was born in Malmo in Sweden on March 30, 1977, but now resides in Hamburg, Germany.
Her amateur record was 6-1 and she became a national champion in 1998.
However, it was in her last amateur bout that she suffered a brain hemorrhage and was subsequently handed a lifetime ban by the Swedish Boxing Federation.
Unable to attain a pro boxing licence in her native Sweden, she moved to New York and began training at the world-famous Gleason's Gym.
She won her pro debut in 2003, but after drawing her second bout in 2004, her past caught up with her and the American Association of Boxing Commissions, along with the European Boxing Union, suspended the female fighter for the brain injury she incurred in 1999.
After four years away, she passed the medicals for the BDB to acquire a license to box in Germany, making her long-awaited ring return in November 2008, which she won on points.
She trains at the Hammerbrook Gym in Hamburg with her trainer Khoren Gevor, who was a European middleweight champion in 2008. He ran his record to a respectable 34-10 with 17 KOs and challenged four times for a World title. He often jumps in with Lindberg to spar with her whenever needed.
She beat a Brit to win her first ever professional title, when she defeated Derby's Canadian-born Sara Davies by unanimous decision over 10 rounds in Germany in her fifth fight in 2009 to lift the WIBF World super-welterweight title.
Following two successful defences of that title, she then first challenged for a recognised world title (WBO) in just her eighth contest against Christina Hammer in 2011, but lost on points.
Six years later, winning 10 fights in a row, with one 'No Contest' decision, Lindberg again challenged Christina Hammer, this time for the WBC and WBO World middleweight titles in 2017, but again lost on points.
She has competed at light-middle, middle and super-middleweight during her career 18-year career.
The globetrotter has fought in nine different countries, including America; Germany; Czech Republic; Denmark; Spain; Poland; Canada; Slovenia; and England.
She lost in her last fight with Hartlepool's Savannah Marshall after taking the fight with just five days' notice. She also claimed to have had COVID just two months prior.
Her next fight with Hannah Rankin will be her sixth attempt at winning a world title.
Maria is certified personal trainer and can speak fluently in Swedish, German and English.
The qualified coach is also a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering.
She had a documentary made all about her, titled,"Maria and her shadow", which led to a part in a feature film, "Gipsy Queen", where not only did she make her acting debut but she also got to choreograph a whole boxing fight.
Stats
Height: 5ft 6in (168cm)
Age: 44
Wins: 19
Wins by KO: 10
KO Ratio: 34.48%
Losses: 7
Losses by KO: 1
Draws: 2
Lowest Weight: 150¼ lbs
Highest Weight: 162 lbs
You can follow Maria on Instagram here: @marialindbergofficial
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