By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
The controversial fight between Filipino female fighter Denice Zamboanga and Korean legend Seo Hee Ham at “ONE: Empower” on Friday has been placed under formal review, ONE Championship announced on Sunday.
In a Facebook post, ONE Founder and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong said their competition committee was in the process of reviewing the fight, which was clouded with doubt after the win was given to Ms. Seo by way of split decision even when many thought, including Mr. Sityodtong, that Ms. Zamboanga won the close fight.
The showdown, part of the much-anticipated world atomweight grand prix, was competitive, with Ms. Zamboanga successful in the clinch and fashioning out takedowns and fighting on the ground.
Ms. Seo had her moments, landing clean and heavy punches throughout the three-round contest.
In the third round, Ms. Zamboanga absorbed a nasty cut to the forehead after a head collision with her opponent.
The fight was temporarily halted to allow the ringside doctor to check on the Filipino fighter.
After some time, action resumed, and Ms. Zamboanga did not waste time and charged towards Ms. Seo to take her down and pound on her until the end of the round.
But to the surprise of many, the Korean was declared the winner.
Pundits and observers heavily criticized the decision after, believing that Ms. Zamboanga was the more active fighter and significantly scored better.
“I fully respect the judges’ decision. But I know I won that fight last Friday night. I respectfully request ONE to review the result, for the sake of the integrity of the Grand Prix,” a tearful Ms. Zamboanga said in the virtual post-event press conference.
Other world grand prix quarterfinal winners were Japan’s Itsuki Hirata over American Alyse Anderson (unanimous decision), India’s Ritu Phogat over China’s Meng Bo (UD), and Stamp of Thailand over Alyona Rassohyna of Ukraine (split decision).
The winner of the tournament earns the grand prix title and gets a shot at reigning ONE world atomweight champion Angela Lee of Singapore.
