Who is Natalie Zimmermann?
GBM Sports are calling Terri Harper (15-2-2, 6 KOs) vs Natalie Zimmermann (13-0, 3 KOs) the biggest professional boxing event in South Yorkshire’s history, when the lightweights clash at the 15,000-capacity Eco-Power Stadium – home of Doncaster Rovers FC – on Friday, May 23rd, live and exclusively on DAZN.
Hometown heroine Harper defends her WBO World lightweight title to the visitor who has battled her way up the rankings to become the mandatory challenger.
But who is the challenger? Find out everything you need to know about Natalie Zimmermann right here:
Natalie Zimmermann was born on September 18, 1982, as the daughter of a shepherd in Ostholstein, in southwest Germany. She has four sisters and the farm they all grew up on had over 1,000 sheep!
She is a qualified physiotherapist, personal trainer and health coach, running her own company called Body & Mind by Natalie, which runs courses such as self-defence and she even gives lectures on fitness at business and office events.
Her interest in martial arts was sparked at the age of 20 by the film G.I. Jane, starring Demi Moore.
At the age of 26, she quit her job at a hospital in Neustadt, Rhineland and moved to Hamburg, the second largest city after the capital Berlin.
There, since 2010, she has run her own gym and initially dedicated herself to Taekwondo, where she reached 4th place at the German Championships.
Afterwards, she switched to kickboxing, where she was a member of the national team for seven years and became vice world champion in Antalya, Turkey in 2019.
In the same year, she turned over to professional boxing, an bold decision at the age of 37, which was also influenced by her contact with sports manager Bernd Bönte.
The southpaw trains under Andre Wahlher at the EC Box Gym in Hamburg and former WBO world lightweight champion Artur Grigorian, who reigned from 1996-2004 and holds the record for highest number of defences – 17.
She is managed by Flavio Oleaga Mirabal, who also manages heavyweight Senad Gashi.
For years, she has worked as a personal trainer for Udo Lindenberg, a famous German musician who has had multiple top 10 albums, who also sponsors her.
Zimmermann currently lives in the Spanish city of Benidorm.
She has recorded three first-round knockouts, the first one taking just 35 seconds!
Her first 11 bouts were all based in Germany, but her last contests took place in Spain.
On September 1, 2023, Zimmermann defeated Hungarian Edina Kiss at the Gütersloh town hall via unanimous decision to win the WIBF world super-lightweight championship. The title isn’t recognised as one of the four major world titles, but it does date back 30 years to 1995 and has been held by the likes of British boxing legend, Jane Couch, on three separate occasions.
She has also won a WBF world title and describes herself as a two-time world champion.
The lightweight is ranked WBO #10, Germany #4, and #22 in the world on BoxRec.
Natalie has a large tattoo of a lion on the right side of her naval.
When she’s not in the gym training or working, she likes to spend time on the beach.
She likes to listen to Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Joel Sunny, Taylor Swift, The Irrepressibles.
Bio
Natalie Zimmermann
WBO #10
Bouts: 13
Rounds: 67
Wins: 13
Losses: 0
Draws: 0
KOs: 3
KO Ratio: 23.08%
Age: 42
Height: 5’ 6”
Ranking: Germany #4 / World #22
What has she said?
Zimmermann on her fight with Harper: “I want to thank GBM for giving me this opportunity. It’s been my dream from day one to fight a name like Terri Harper and now that dream is coming true. It’s a great honour for me to have this platform to showcase my skills against a fighter like Terri.
“I’ve brought in girls from all over Europe to give me hard sparring and try to replicate Terri Harper’s style. I have really put my all into this training camp. I am at my best and I will give my best. Becoming world champion on Friday night means everything to me.”
Follow Natalie on Instagram: @bodyandmindbynatalie