5'3" Regina Halmich from Karlsruhe, Germany is probably Europe's best-known female boxer.

Born on 22 November 1976 in Karlsruhe, Halmich gave up her job as a lawyer's clerk to become a professional boxer in 1993 and competed in the sport until announcing her retirement in 2007. She was trained by Torsten Schmitz and managed by Klaus-Peter Kohl.  She held the WIBF world Junior Flyweight, Flyweight and Junior Bantamweight titles as well as the European Junior Flyweight and Flyweight titles.

Regina maintained a typical pace of three to five fights a year against a mixture of serious contenders ncluding the best in the sport at her eight, and some "soft" opponents.  She was a technical boxer with an aggressive style that made her fights exciting to watch and also made her the emblem of women's boxing and a national celebrity in Germany.

On March 4, 1994, in Karlsruhe, she won her debut with a 5-round  unanimous decision over Holland's Fienie Klee

On April 22, 1994 in Karlsruhe she knocked out Birgit Veerle of Belgium in the third round of a scheduled 4-rounder.

On June 17 1994 in Karlsruhe she won by first-round KO over Sonja Silva of Portugal.

On June 5, 1994 in Bruchsal, Germany and again on September 2 1994 in Karlsruhe she won six-round unanimous decisions over French kickboxing champion Severine Grandsire, in Grandsire's first two bouts as a pro boxer.

On November 25, 1994 she won the WIBF European Flyweight title with a 10-round decision over Britain's Cheryl Robertson. Robertson was making her pro boxing debut but later went on to become the WIBF world Bantamweight champion.

On March 11, 1995 in Köln, Germany Regina won a six-round unanimous decision over Paula Moreira of Portugal.

On April 1 1995 in Aachen, Germany she won a 10-round unanimous decision over Italy's Maria Rosa Tabbuso to defend the WIBF European Flyweight title.

On April 20, 1995 at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas she lost to Yvonne Trevino of Peoria, Arizona by 4th round TKO in a scheduled 10-rounder for the WIBF world Super Flyweight title. This bout was the Main Event on the WIBF all-female card. Although Halmich knocked Trevino down early in the fight, she could not match the punching power of her American opponent. Halmich went to the canvas herself later in a fight in which she was eventually badly bloodied by the hard-punching Trevino. Halmich showed her toughness against Trevino in standing up to a strong opponent. The fight was stopped in the fourth round when Halmich, unable to defend a stream of Trevino's powerful rights, was badly battered around her left eye. Trevino improved to 2-1 as a pro boxer.

On June 10, 1995 in Karslruhe she won a 10-round split (2-1) decision over American kickboxing star Kim Messer to take the WIBF Flyweight title. This was Messer's first fight as a professional boxer.

On August 5, 1995 in Berlin, Germany she TKO'd Sónia Pereira of Portugal in the seventh round defending the WIBF European Flyweight title.

On September 23, 1995 in Aachen, Germany she TKO'd Brigitte Scherzinour of France in the sixth round defending the WIBF world Flyweight title (as far as I can tell, this was Scherzinour's only pro fight!).

On November 4, 1995 in Köln she won a ten-round unanimous decision over Petrina Phillips of Wales in defense of the WIBF European Flyweight title.  

On December 2, 1995 in Karlsruhe she won a 10-round unanimous decision over Texan junior flyweight Anissa Zamarron for the WIBF world flyweight title. Zamarron fell to 4-2 (1 KO).

On February 10, 1996 in Cottbus, Germany she TKO'd Dagmar Richardson of Holland in the fourth round in defense of the WIBF world flyweight title. This was Richardson's debut.

On April 13, 1996 in Hamburg she TKO'd Melinda Papp of Hungary in the fourth round defending the WIBF world Flyweight title.

On August 17 1996 in Frankfurt she won a 10-round decision over Diane Berry of England defending the WIBF world flyweight title. This was Berry's pro boxing debut.

On November 2, 1996 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany she TKO'd Michelle Sutcliffe of England in the second round defending the WIBF world Flyweight title. This was Sutcliffe's pro boxing debut. 

On December 12, 1996 in Frankfurt she won another 10-round unanimous decision over Cheryl Robertson of England for the WIBF world flyweight title, dropping Robertson to 0-2 as a pro boxer.

On March 8th, 1997 in Köln she won a 10-round unanimous (97-94,98-94,96-95) 10-round decision over Miyoki Nojima of Japan for the WIBF world Flyweight title. Nojima (a.k.a. "Sugar Miyuki") was 1-1 as a pro boxer.

On June 27, 1997 in Offenburg, Germany she won a 10-round  unanimous decision over Lisa Houghton of Leeds, England for the WIBF world Flyweight title.  This was Houghton's pro boxing debut.

On September 20, 1997 in Aachen she won a 10-round decision  over Viktoria Pataki of Hungary, who fell to 13-1-0.

On November 29, 1997 in Karlsruhe she weighed in at 112 lbs and won a clear 10-round unanimous decision over Franchesca Lupo (107 lbs) of Italy for the WIBF Flyweight title. Halmich held Lupo at a distance with her jab and landed telling right hooks at every opportunity. However, even right-left combinations didn't stop Francesca Lupo from coming forward, but landed few solid shots punches herself. Two of the three judges had her winning all ten rounds. "Everything worked out perfectly. Regina held to our fighting tactics all to the end" said Regina's trainer Torsten Schmitz. 

On March 7, 1998 in Köln, she retained the WIBF Flyweight title by again defeating Lisa Houghton on points over 10 rounds; Houghton was a late replacement for the USA's Pam Barker, and fell to 0-3 as a pro boxer with this loss.

On April 18, 1998 in Aachen, Germany , Regina moved her record to 25-1 with 8 KO's by TKO'ing Italy's Maria Rosa Tabbuso in the 6th round to take the WIBF Super Flyweight title. Regina worked Tabbuso's body early in this fight and a standing eight was called on Tabbuso midway through Round Three.

On July 10, 1998 in Munich, she weighed in at 111 lbs and defended her WIBF world Flyweight title with a close (96-95,96-95,97-95) ten round decision over world champion kickboxer Stefania Bianchini (110 lbs) from Milan, Italy. Regina started well, catching the southpaw challenger with some heavy rights, but Bianchini kept coming forward and still looked strong at the end of the fight. Despite always being behind on points, Bianchini never stopped pressing and hurt Halmich with a couple of strong lefts in the last two rounds, causing the champion to backpedal to stay out of trouble. Regina was heavily marked across her nose and around both eyes when the bout was over.

On October 3, 1998 at the Prinz-Garden-Halle in Augsburg, Germany, she again defeated Anissa Zamarron of Austin, Texas, this time by 10-round unanimous (96-95,97-92,98-96) decision to retain the WIBF world Flyweight title.

On December 5, 1998 in Kiev, Ukraine, a crowd estimated at 12,000 saw Regina (107 lbs) outpoint Hungary's Viktoria Pataki (108 lbs) for the second time in her career, over 10 rounds in defense of the WIBF world flyweight title. Regina knocked the Hungarian down in the opening minutes and dominated the rest of the fight. Pataki slipped to 17-2 (both losses coming to the German champion).

On March 27, 1999 at Sartory Säle in Köln, Germany, Regina scored a devastating first-minute KO of Lourdes Gonzalez de Ocampo of Argentina. Gonzales went to the canvas after a left hook followed by a right to the solar plexus and another right to the head. She remained down for several minutes and was taken to a hospital for examination. Halmich said afterwards that she was shocked when Gonzalez stayed on the canvas so long. She also reaffirmed her wish to fight again in the United States. Gonzalez's record fell to a claimed 10-3 with this loss; she had won 5 of her fights by KO.

On July 10, 1999 at the Sporthalle in Augsburg, Germany, in her 20th world title bout, Regina weighed in at 108 lbs and defended the WIBF world Junior Flyweight (renamed from Flyweight) title before a near capacity crowd of 2800 with a TKO of Hungarian Erzsébet Borosi (105½ lbs) at 1:25 of the eighth round. Halmich dominated the whole fight and landed clear shots to the head before referee Daniel van de Wiele called a halt to it. According to a press release by Fabian Weber, Regina stated "I took the fight very seriously, because it's my great aim to fight in the US this year, I want a big fight against Jane Mathews (presumably Jill Matthews ... Dee), Jolene Blackshear or Yvonne Trevino". Halmich also stated that she wanted more money from promoter Universum when her contract expired at the end of the year. Borosi suffered her first loss in 15 fights, dropping to 14-1 (3 KO´s) according to Universum ... however Borosi had competed in the Feenix Box Cup amateur tournament as recently as May 1999 so it is likely that the quoted record was her amateur record. Neither the promoter's representatives nor a WIBF official gave clear responses to questions about Borosi's record, and modern sources (including WBAN) list tis bout with Halmich as Borosi's only pro fight.

On September 18, 1999 at the Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany: Regina weighed in at 108 lbs and retained the WIBF Junior Flyweight title with a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over former IWBF and IFBA Junior Flyweight champion Jill Matthews (108 lbs) of New York City. The judges' scorecards were 98-95, 97-93 and 99-92 in favor of Halmich, but this was a tough fight for the German star. Matthews fell to 7-4-1 with the loss.

On February 19, 2000 at the Estrel Convention Centre in Berlin, Germany, Regina moved her pro record to 31-1 and defended her WIBF Junior Flyweight title with a fifth-round TKO of Hungary's Viktoria Varga, who fell to 9-1. The German champion hurt Varga with a series of body punches in the fourth and fifth rounds and Varga took two standing eight counts. Referee Daniel van der Wiele stopped the fight when Varga turned away from Halmich after taking more shots to the body, at 1:15 in the fifth.

On May 13, 2000 at Sartory Säle in Cologne, Germany, Regina weighed in at 111 lbs and moved her record to 32-1 in a hard-fought ten round battle with Delia Gonzalez (109 lbs) of Chamberino, New Mexico. Halmich won by a majority (98-95,96-94,96-96) decision. Gonzalez was very aggressive and Halmich needed all her boxing skills and speed to keep her at bay. The fight turned into a war in the later rounds, and Gonzalez was cut over her left eye in round eight, but this did not stop her coming forward to challenge Regina until the final bell of an excellent and hard-fought bout (read the detailed fight report from correspondent Jon Fox). Gonzalez fell to 10-5-3 with the loss.

On October 7, 2000 at the Estrel Convention Centre in Berlin, Germany, Regina weighed in at 107½ lbs and retained her title by a ten-round majority decision over WBF Women's Flyweight champion Michelle Sutcliffe (108 lbs) of the U.K. The scores were 98-95, 97-94, and 95-95. Sutcliffe was cut by an accidental head butt but beat Halmich to the punch repeatedly. Halmich kept going forward for the whole bout but did not look her best in this fight and took much more punishment than in her previous title defenses. Halmich told German media: "This isn't meant as an excuse, but in the course of moving from Hamburg to ... Berlin, my trainer, Torsten Schmitz, and I have had a lot of extraneous matters to attend to in the last few weeks", adding "I aim to be a lot more convincing in my next fight". Sutcliffe fell to 4-4 with the loss. (For more details, see the fight report by John Wilson).

On December 16, 2000 at Gruga-Halle, in Essen, Germany, 8000 spectators saw Regina (106½ lbs) retain the WIBF world Junior Flyweight title with a 10-round strangely-split (100-90,98-94,93-97) decision over European Junior Flyweight champion Alina Shaternikova (108 lbs) of the Ukraine, who fell to 12-1 (2 KO's).

On February 24, 2001 at Sporthalle Wandsbek in Hamburg, Germany, Regina weighed in at 107 lbs and won by a TKO at 1:50 of the third round over Szilvia Csicsely (106 lbs) of Hungary in another defense of the WIBF Junior Flyweight title. Halmich pursued the overmatched Hungarian fighter relentlessly until referee Daniel van de Wiele stopped the lop-sided contest. Csicsely's record fell to 11-1 according to Universum, but I suspect that this included amateur bouts.

On April 7, 2001 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, she moved her pro record to 36-1 (13 KO's) in a successful defense of the WIBF Junior Flyweight title when she TKO'd Andrea Blevins of Missouri at 1:35 in the fifth round. Blevins fell to 4-2 (1 KO) fighting her second ten-rounder, and looked badly overmatched according to the fight report from Jon Fox. I was also told by a European correspondent that Blevins's record was announced before this fight as 9-1 ... which overstated Andrea's pro boxing record (presumably by adding in her kickboxing record). While this is not the first time this has happened in trans-Atlantic bouts, it misleads fans and should be stopped.

On July 21, 2001 at Tivoli Eissporthalle in Aachen, Germany, she again defended the WIBF Junior Flyweight title and moved to 37-1 (13 KO's) with a hard fought ten-round unanimous (98-96,97-95,96-94) decision in a rematch with Ukrainian southpaw Alina Shaternikova. Shaternikova, who fell to 9-2 (2 KO's), pressed Halmich hard throughout an intensely competitive rematch of their December 2000 bout.

On November 24, 2001 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Regina (107 lbs) defended the WIBF Junior Flyweight world title with a 99-92,98-93,98-92 decision over Svetla Taskova (104 lbs) of Bulgaria. Marcel Niessen told me "Southpaw Svetla started the fight strong with a wild and rough style that seemed to surprise Halmich and the first two rounds were for Svetla with the second and third being very close, in my book even. After that Svetla appeared to run run out of gas and the lack of a jab turned the tide in Regina's favor. Regina picked up the pace in the middle and later rounds and cruised to a 98-94 victory on my card." Halmich, who turned 25 two days before the fight, advanced to is now 38-1 (13 KOs) with the win while Taskova fell to 2-4 according to my records (but her two wins over Emilia Iakimova in Bulgaria have been questioned by one correspondent.) Marcel Niessen writes that Regina said it was a hard fight and even though the media didn't write too positively about the last minute replacement, she noted that you can never underestimate an opponent, adding "that way you might all of a sudden lose the title one day". She ended the interview by saying that the opposition wouldn't be weaker in the future.

On April 20, 2002 at Stoczniowiec Olivia, Gdansk (Danzig), Poland, Halmich advanced to 39-1-0 (14 KO) with a meaningless win over Ance Moise of Romania who fell to 0-4. This bout, a bad mismatch by any measure, was all the more absurd for being sanctioned by the WIBF as a defense of Halmich's WIBF world Junior Flyweight title.

On August 17, 2002 at Estrel Convention Center, in Berlin, Germany, Halmich (107½ lbs) defended her WIBF Junior Flyweight world title with a controversial 10-round majority decision over Yvonne Caples (106¼ lbs) of Berkeley, California, ranked #3 in the division by Female Boxing Results and Records. The scorecards were 97-95 (incorrectly announced at the fight as 97-93) and 96-94 for Halmich, with Humberto Furgoni scoring it a 95-95 draw. The result was greeted by boos and whistles as many at ringside considered that Caples had done enough to hand Halmich her second pro loss. Caples slipped to 6-4-1 (1 KO). Halmich had trained for the bout by sparring with Puerto Rican bantamweight Ada Velez.

On January 18, 2003 at Grugahalle in Essen, Germany, Halmich (110 lbs) easily retained her WIBF Flyweight title with a ten-round unanimous (98-92,100-90,99-91) decision over Nadja Loritz (108 lbs) of Koblenz, Germany. Loritz was able to withstand a barrage from Halmich, who became very aggressive in the later rounds, but she lacked the skills and speed to test the veteran champion and was outclassed by her. Loritz fell to 13-1-2 (9 KO). Nadja Loritz was simply outclassed by Regina Halmich. (See also the fight photos, video after the fight (German) and the round by round report by Peter Geudens).

On April 26, 2003 at Sport-und-Kongresshalle, Schwerin, Germany, Regina (110½ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (98-92,97-95,97-94) decision over Cathy Brown (111 lbs) of Peckham, U.K. After a slow start by both fighters in the opening round, Cathy Brown became more aggressive and showed she was clearly the harder puncher. Brown was cut on her forehead by an accidental head-butt midway through the second round, but it did not appear to cause her much trouble.

Brown caught Regina off balance and sent her to the canvas with a straight right to the shoulder with 36 seconds left in the third round, but Halmich was never in any real trouble from this surprising trip to the canvas. Halmich's boxing skills, conditioning and experience turned the fight her way in the second half of the bout as she was able to keep her distance from Brown, who was evidently tired and swinging more wildly in the later rounds. Halmich avoided Brown's rushes and landed some effective counters in the closing rounds, but both were exhausted and rarely landed much that was solid as the fight wound down. The scoring was 98-92 by Werner Kasimir of Germany (perhaps unduly favoring Halmich), a more realistic 97-95 by Guido Cavalleri of Italy and 97-94 by Béla Florian of Hungary. Halmich progressed to 42-1-0 (14 KO) and retained her world title with this hard-earned win. (Read the round-by-round report by Peter Geudens.)

On July 12, 2003 at Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle in Leverkusen, Germany, Regina (108¼ lbs) won a sixth-round TKO over unranked Svetla Taskova (102½ lbs) of Bulgaria. Taskova fell to a reported 3-8-0 (1 KO) ... but the authenticity of two of her wins is unclear. This was Halmich's second win over the Bulgarian southpaw. A Women's Boxing Page correspondent sent the following report: "The Bulgarian, the shorter of the two women, a 32-year-old southpaw with black curly hair drawn back into a pony tail, broad shoulders and hard, white muscular arms, came forward constantly in the first two rounds swinging violently with both fists but more powerfully with the left, clearly looking to knock the German woman out. Halmich fended her off calmly with the jab, countering occasionally with hard rights as the Bulgarian tried to overcome her reach disadvantage by lunging. Halmich caught her with a short left hook coming out of the clinch towards the end of the second and a wicked right cross full in the face at the start of the third. After that the Bulgarian seemed to lose heart. By the end of the fifth, she was clearly out of gas; barely moving her feet, flailing now feebly with her once formidable left; her slumped shoulders as she argued with her trainer in the corner said it all. Halmich caught her with a hard right to the ribs thirteen seconds into the sixth, a left to the face to straighten her up for a hard right to the side of the jaw, and went for the kill, driving her into the ropes, combining hard body shots with hooks to the head. Taskova moved to her right only to be caught on the ropes again and a left hook to the chin as she tried to fight her way back into the centre of the ring signalled the end. Now Halmich zeroed in on the Bulgarian's midriff, catching her with a nasty left hook to the liver, and as she tried desperately to cover up, the coup-de- grace: a right hook that had all the deliberation of a golf shot, beginning at full extension behind her back and landing with an audible crunch in the undefended lower rib cage behind Taskova's left elbow. The 32-year-old slumped back onto the second rope, keeling to her right under pressure from Halmich's left forearm, and exposing the whole left side of her face. As Halmich drew back her right hand for the knockout, the referee stepped between them to end the slaughter."  See also the WBAN round-by-round report by Peter Geudens.

On January 17, 2004 at dm-Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, Regina (110¾ lbs) won a convincing 10-round unanimous (98-92,99-91,99-94) decision over challenger Johanna Peña Álvarez (112 lbs) from the Dominican Republic for the WIBF world Flyweight title. Women's Boxing Page correspondent Ewan Whyte wrote: "Halmich won by a wide margin. Peña seemed intimidated, if not by Halmich, then by the magnitude of the occasion. Normally she´s quick on her feet, she dances, but here she adopted a wide, stiff-legged stance, backing away most of the time and looking only to counter. It was Halmich that was doing all the dancing; at one point, her trainer told her off for wasting energy. Peña's a southpaw; she holds her right high; tonight she moved awkwardly, but ... this wasn't at all her natural style. If this was some new strategy, it was ill-considered. She did hit quite hard, cutting Halmich under the left eye, but never really cut loose until the last round, by which time she was too tired to make it count. At the end, when she ran out of steam mid-round, you had the feeling that Halmich could have stopped her but hadn't the heart. The crowd were 100% behind Halmich, except at one point, when Peña counter-attacked bravely after taking a few hard punches, and you could hear a loud murmur of appreciation." Peña had dropped a few pounds from her usual fighting weight to make this bout possible. Peña Álvarez fell to 14-2-1 (10 KO)

On May 29, 2004 at Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany, Regina comfortably won a ten-round unanimous (96-94,97-93,96-94) decision over Daisy Lang of Bulgaria for the vacant IWBF Junior Bantamweight title. Lang fell to 18-3-1 with the loss.  Halmich dominated the taller Lang with a more aggressive offense, and landed more solidly throughout the fight. Halmich apologized for the fact that the fight was unexciting, and blamed Lang for not wanting to fight. “I wanted to show more from my boxing skills tonight”, said Halmich, "but Daisy was just running away for ten rounds. You can’t win a world title by moving backwards all the time.” Lang, who had boasted before the bout that she would 'end Halmich's career', felt that she was robbed, that she had won every round, and that Halmich hardly got any punches through. Lang added that she was a counter boxer, and that anybody who knew anything about boxing could see that she had won ... apparently no such person was in the hall!  Halmich, who had gone up two weight classes to make the match, progressed to 45-1-0 (15 KO) with this win.

WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte summed up the Lang fight: 'All in all, it was a strange fight. From above, they must have looked like the second hand of a clock: Lang, circling cautiously at the edge of the ring, moving almost invariably to her left, and Halmich tracking her, two or three metres closer to the centre but always at the same tempo, two revolutions per round, a wheel within a wheel, the one as eager to hurt as the other to avoid hurt. Even when Halmich got caught coming in once or twice, as she often does, Lang hadn't the wherewithal or gumption to exploit the opportunity and straightaway resumed her flight. How she thought she was going to 'end Halmich's career' with a performance like this is a mystery, unless she was hoping to make the German so dizzy she'd just fall through the ropes."  (See Ewan's full fight report).

Trading with Elena Reid in Karlsruhe, Sept 2004

On September 11, 2004 at DM Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, Regina
(111¾ lbs) battled Elena Reid (111¾ lbs) of Phoenix, Arizona, USA to a draw over ten-rounds to retain her WIBF Flyweight title.  The scoring of this bout was highly controversial, Judge Oliver Evers of Germany logging it as 98-94 for Halmich, Judge Leszek Jankowiak of Poland assessing it as a 97-97 draw, while Judge Roger Tillerman of Belgium had it 97-93 for Reid. More observers of this fight appear to agree with the Belgian judge's assessment than with either the draw or the tally by the German judge. Halmich moved her record to 45-1-1 (15 KOs) with the draw, while Reid progressed to 14-1-5 (4 KO).

Halmich lands a right to the face of Marylín Hernández

On January 15, 2005 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Regina (111¼ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (100-91,100-92,100-92) decision over Marylín Hernández (111½ lbs) of the Dominican Republic defending the WIBF Flyweight title in a fight that was broadcast live on ZDF-TV.  See the illustrated fight report by WBAN's Ewan Whyte for details. Hernández's boxing record is a matter of some dispute, but her verified record with FightFax after this bout was 3-4-0. Halmich, who was setting down on her punches more than in her controversial draw with Elena Reid, improved to 46-1-1 (15 KOs) with the win.

vs. Hollie Dunaway in April 2005

On April 16, 2005 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Regina (111¼  lbs) won a comfortable (98-92,99-91,99-91) ten-round unanimous decision over WIBA Minimumweight champion Hollie Dunaway (110¾ lbs) of Van Buren, Arkansas, USA defending her WIBF Flyweight Title.  Dunaway started aggressively and Halmich seemed wary of her punching power at first, but Halmich began to take over the fight in the third round and began to ook confident countering Dunaway's energetic but often inaccurate punching style.  Halmich scored repeatedly with her left hook in the fifth and knocked Dunaway's mouthpiece out. Halmich went on to dominate the later rounds as Dunaway tired, but the American tried to make a fight of it in the ninth and tenth, only to be frustrated by the more experienced German's skills and effective late-round punching. Dunaway fell to 13-4-0 (8 KO) with the loss.

WBAN named Regina as its Fighter of the Month in May 2005.

On September 10, 2005  in Karlsruhe, Germany, Regina (111 lbs) won a 10-round split (94-96,98-92,96-94) decision over María Jesús Rosa (111½ lbs) of Magarinos, Spain defending her WIBF Flyweight Title. This was a hard fought, entertaining battle with neither fighter focusing on defense that ended in another a controversial result. "Rosa was very offensive and powerful and she worked very explosive at close range", said Halmich after the fight.  "The people could see that there were two great athletes in the ring who tried to find out who was the better one. In the end my experience prevailed. But it was a tough fight until the final bell. She kept me pretty busy. There are opponents who suit me better. But on the other side there were nights when I fought worse than tonight. I'm glad I was able to bring home my 50th fight with a decision victory."

WBAN received a round-by-round report from correspondent Peter Geudens, who summarized the fight as follows: "It was a close fight that was very difficult to score. Maria Jesus Rosa definitely threw more punches (Halmich herself admitted as much after the fight), but Regina’s were more effective and had more power. I tend to agree with judge Van Grotenbruel’s verdict (96-94 for Rosa), but I think a draw would also have been justifiable. What struck me about this verdict, is that the (98-92) opinion of the German judge is totally different from that of his colleagues, he didn’t see it as a close fight. Without wanting to take anything away from Halmich’s excellent performance, I think that it’s totally unacceptable that one of the judges is a compatriot of one of the fighters, especially if the fight takes place in her home town. If the judges had all come from ‘neutral’ countries, the result may well have been different. Beside that,  it was great to watch such a fantastic fight."  The 31-year-old Rosa slipped to 18-1-0 (4 KOs).

On December 3, 2005 at the Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Regina (111 lbs), won a 10-round unanimous decision over Elena Reid (110½ lbs) of Phoenix, Arizona to retain her WIBF Flyweight title. The outcome of this rematch was not without controversy as the American team and some ringside observers  again claimed that they had been robbed by the judges, but Halmich had clearly learned more from their previous drawn bout which most observers felt she had lost.  WBAN correspondent Peter Guedens summarized the result saying "When seeing the fight for the first time, I thought it was very close, but the more I’ve seen the highlights, the more I get convinced that it was a clear win for Halmich. Using a very clever game plan, she outboxed an overconfident Elena who seemed like she was already celebrating before the fight had even started."  (See Peter's illustrated round-by-round report). Reid fell to 17-3-5 (5 KOs) with the loss..

Regina bloodied but victorious over Milo

On May 6, 2006 at Burg-Wächter-Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany Regina (111¼ lbs) scored her 50th professional win with a ten-round unanimous decision over Viktoria Milo ( 5'6", 110¾ lbs) of Nyíregyháza, Hungary, defending her WIBF Flyweight title. The judges' scorecards (98-92,99-92,97-93) possibly did not do justice to a comeback by Milo in the later rounds after a slow start, according to WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, who wrote "With a little more punching power, Viktoria Milo could do someone a real mischief. This evening, it took her far too long to work out Regina Halmich's complex and varied style, but once she did, she looked as good as, if not better than, her far more experienced opponent. Showing tremendous courage, after taking something of a pasting in the first half of the fight (including a jarring overhand right in the fourth), the willowy, almost elfin, Hungarian came back strongly in the sixth and seventh, making quite a mess of Halmich's face in the process. By the eighth, Milo had learned (at last!) how to use her superior reach to keep Halmich at bay and begun landing combinations of her own that left the German bleeding – at once stage quite freely – from a cut to the corner of her left eye and with a swelling under the right; but Halmich hung tough and managed to do enough in the later stages to hold on to her crown and chalk up her fiftieth career victory by the wide but – given that the Hungarian was getting stronger, and she herself fading, in the latter stages – misleading margin of 98–92, 99–92, 97–93."  Milo, who held the GBU flyweight belt and was ranked #3 at flyweight by WBAN, fell to 15-6-0 (4 KOs), while Regina improved to 50-1-1 (15 KOs).

On September 9, 2006 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany, Regina (111½ lbs) TKO’d Ria Ramnarine (110½ lbs) of Trinidad and Tobago at 0:54 seconds in the sixth round in a scheduled 10 Main Event for Halmich's WIBF Flyweight title. Ramnarine fell to 10-5 (1 KO) with the loss.

On January 13, 2007 at the  Brandberge Arena in Halle/Saale, Germany, Regina (111½ lbs) won a convincing 10-round unanimous (99-92,98-93,99-91) decision over WIBF Junior Bantamweight champion Reka Krempf (111¼ lbs) of Esztergom, Hungary defending her WIBF Flyweight title.  Krempf was a relatively late substitute for American Mary Ortega who had been placed on suspension in Nevada for failing a banned substance test.  According to the fight report from WBAN correspondent Torben L., "Halmich came forward in her usual style and used her superior ring craft to control the fight throughout the 10 rounds. Although Krempf fought gallantly and occasionally managed to deliver telling punches, she did not have the tools to counter Halmich's persistent attacks."  Halmich had stated that she would fight twice more before she retires in 2007, and that Terri Cruz is one fighter she would like to face before she hangs up her gloves. Halmich improved to 52-1-1 (16 KOs) while Krempf fell to 13-8-3 (5 KOs).

On July 28, 2007 at Burg-Wächter-Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany Regina  retained her WIBF Flyweight title with a 10-round unanimous (98-93, 98 93, 96-95.) decision over Wendy Rodriguez of Los Angeles, California.  Rodriguez fell to 18-4-3 (3 KOs).

On November 30, 2007 at the DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, the 31-year-old Halmich claimed a final ten-round decision against Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer of Israel to finish her boxing career with a 54-1-1 (16 KOs) record after holding her world title for a decade and making 45 title defenses. Halmich was tested hard by Finer, the reigning WIBF Junior Bantamweight champion, and came away with a hard won majority (97-94,95-95,96-94) decision to a standing ovation from the capacity crowd of 7500 who attended the fight. Finer, who had fought well but angered some fans by raising her hands in triumph after almost every round, dropped to 14-4-3. 

"I have the right to step down now. It was a wonderful career," said Halmich, who wants to pursue work as a television commentator.

In January 2008 WBAN recognized Halmich's long career with its "Highest Achievement of the Year 2007" award.  Sue TL Fox wrote "Regina Halmich has been chosen for the second year with WBAN as obtaining the highest achievements that a female boxer has accomplished in 2007 in the sport ... Regina has displayed grace, and pristine sportsmanship throughout her career---and she has been a good business woman who has been able to financially achieve something from the sport."  

Many women's boxing fans were eager to see Halmich compete in the USA again before she retired. After her May 13, 2000 bout with Delia Gonzalez, Women's Boxing Page correspondent Jon Fox asked Regina whether she was willing to fight Kim Messer.

"Absolutely, I'd like to fight her in America. But the money has to be right", replied Halmich.

Regina was said to have turned down $20,000 for a match in the USA with former IFBA flyweight champion Jolene Blackshear. After her November 24, 2001 bout, Regina also gave an interview in which she was asked if she still wanted bigger and better things in the USA by fighting some big fights there. Halmich said it was not necessary since she would be fighting for ZDF television channel in starting in 2002 and they would have a bigger budget available to show her fighting the better female boxers in Germany instead of in the USA.

The economics of why Halmich never fought outside Germany in her later years were made crystal clear her final bout with  Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer. According to the AP report in the International Herald Tribune, the fight was watched on European television by eight million people, with an audience share of nearly 40 percent, a ratings higher than all but the biggest men's fights in Germany.  Halmich also reportedly won €500,000 (US$731,000) in prize money for the appearance, making her the highest-paid performer in women's boxing history.  She is said to have made about  €10 million over her entire boxing career, thanks largely to the media popularity for women's boxing that she herself had created in Germany.  Only Laila Ali came close to Halmich's success in capturing the attention, and financial rewards, of a large boxing community for the female sport. Halmich has also paved the way for a new generation of younger fighters to follow her footsteps in Germany, obtaining good financial rewards for their efforts.  Halmich's career has been criticized for some friendly (favorable) decisions, as in her first bout with Elena Reid, but she leaves a legacy for the sport in Europe that can only be envied by women boxers in other countries.    

Regina saw action as a pro kickboxer early in her career. She suffered a tough defeat in Tokyo, Japan against Naoko Kumagai in DESTINY-IX, an all-women's card on October 14, 1994. Regina was knocked out in an uneven match, Naoko punished Regina with lateral kicks to the midsection before a powerful left hand to the liver sent her to the canvas, where Halmich was counted out at 1:17 of the first round.

Biography by Dee Williams