Denice Zamboanga was her career derailed by a pair of losses to Seo Hee Ham. The first was extremely controversial, the second was not but both left a similar stain on her previously unblemished record.
She bounced back to defeat Heqin Lin at ONE Fight Night 5 and remains the #3 ranked atomweight. Zamboanga might not currently have a fight booked but she is still one of the top contenders.
She is also in fantastic shape and is clearly looking to put on some muscle. Zamboanga recently shared footage of herself lifting what looks to be some serious iron.
View this post on Instagram
Lost momentum
Zamboanga was promised a shot at atomweight champion Angela Lee. At the time the Filipina was undefeated and had a lot of momentum behind her.
But that title shot was derailed by the champion’s pregnancy. Instead Zamboanga found herself thrust into the atomweight Grand Prix, where she got eliminated in the opening round.
Zamboanga was the underdog against Seo Hee Ham. But she appeared to get the better of the fight and even Dan Hardy stated that he thought the Filipina should have got the decision.
View this post on Instagram
Winning ways
Zamboanga got back to winning ways at ONE Fight Night 5 last year. Fighting in Manila for the first time since 2018 she edged out the unfortunate Lin Heqin.
Afterwards Zamboanga called out Stamp Fairtex. But the Thai fighter will be facing Alyse Anderson at ONE Fight Night 10 in May so that matchup is on the backburner, at least for the time being.
Meanwhile Seo Hee Ham is booked to face Itsuki Hirata at ONE Fight Night 8. Alyona Rassohyna is pregnant so the #4 ranked atomweight won’t be fighting for the foreseeable future.
That leaves #5 ranked Tiffany Teo but it is not clear whether or not she will be allowed to compete at atomweight again, she weighed 131.5lbs on fight night when beating Ritu Phogat which is more than 10lbs above the ONE Championship limit.
Zamboanga is clearly keeping in shape ahead of a potential return. She will be watching the upcoming atomweight fights and waiting to see which opponent matchmakers decide is most suitable for her.
