By:  | December 3, 2022 9:35 am

Denice Zamboanga hasn’t had much luck with the ONE Championship judges. Her split decision loss to Seo Hee Ham last year will go down as one of the most controversial decisions in the promotion’s history.

But this time the Filipina did have a little bit of luck with the judges at ONE on Prime Video 5, although to be honest she probably deserved it. After an action packed three rounds this time it was Zamboanga who walked away with the split decision win.

Things started very well for Zamboanga who found a home for her straight right hand in the opening round. She went for the takedown but was tagged with a left hook and briefly ended up mounted in a sign that the Filipina wouldn’t have things all her own way.

Strong start

After making a strong start to the fight Zamboanga started to look less confident after being staggered by that left hook. But she was able to use her striking to control the second round.

Zamboanga walked Heqin down using her footwork to cut off the corners and looking to land that straight right hand. The Chinese fighter countered with some low kicks but by the end of the round the damage was starting to show on her face.

Heqin knew she was behind on the scorecards and fought with more urgency in the third round. She was able to land some low kicks and side kicks but it was Zamboanga controlling the action as she constantly closed the distance and looked to land the straight right.

It seemed like a fairly  straightforward decision for the judges with Zamboanga clearly doing more damage. So it was a surprise when the split decision was announced.

With the win she improves to 9-2 and snaps a two fight losing skid. Afterwards she called out her former friend and teammate Stamp Fairtex and declared she had shown a different side to her game in the win over Heqin,

“They know I’m going to wrestle but I wanted to show them I have striking too.”