A teary-eyed Denice Zamboanga pleaded for ONE Championship officials to review the result of her ONE: Epower atomweight grand prix fight with Seo Hee Ham, following a close split decision loss. And now, her wish has been granted.
While there’s no guarantee that ONE will reverse the decision, which saw Ham serve up the first loss of Zamboanga’s career, it’s a step in the right direction. At least for those who feel the Filipino fighter was the true winner of the bout.
ONE officials announced the news on social media Monday.
🚨 NEWS ALERT 🚨 The fight between Denice Zamboanga and Seo Hee Ham is under official review by the ONE Competition Committee. @DZDenice @yodchatri #ONEEmpower #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/vZ2FkPf3wZ
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 5, 2021
The all-female Empower card, which went down this past Friday, saw all four women’s atomweight grand prix quarterfinals take place. None was as controversial as Ham vs. Zamboanga, however. “The Lycan Queen” Zamboanga was dominant through the first five minutes, followed by a much closer second round. The third saw Ham get off to a good start, but an accidental clash of heads — which opened up a nasty cut on the forehead of Zamboanga — halted the action.
When the fight finally resumed Zamboanga seemed to have the edge. Come the result being announced, however, Ham was given the nod by two judges.
While western promotions use the 10-point must scoring system that finds its origins in boxing, fights in ONE Championship are scored as a whole. Following the bout, Ham insisted that she never felt she was losing “in any point of the fight” and suggested the outcry from fans was a result of them not understanding the ONE ruleset.
Zamboanga stated immediately after the bout that “I clearly won the fight,” calling for the review that will now take place.
ONE Championship’s semifinal match-ups are to be voted on by fans, who can cast their ballet at onefc.com/vote — with the other semifinalists consisting of Stamp Fairtex, Itsuki Hirata, and Ritu Phogat.
