Denice Zamboanga is back in the Philippines and training hard as she looks to make her mark in a new look atomweight division. It is over three years since she was promised a title shot.
Champion Angela Lee would go on to have a baby and then retire. Seo Hee Ham, who beat Zamboanga twice, is coming off a loss to Stamp Fairtex in a fight which was put together to crown a new champion.
Zamboanga has also moved training camp twice. She left Fairtex ahead of a potential fight with Stamp and relocated to Marrok Force in Bangkok which now seems to have shut up shop.
Zamboanga is now back in the Philippines and appears to be training hard as she looks to secure a shot at the newly crowned champion. She participated at the RVCA Invitational in Manila last weekend and slammed at least one opponent into the mat.
View this post on Instagram
Top contender
Zamboanga’s grappling has always been her strong point. She is coming off back to back decision wins and is ranked #2 at atomweight. Stamp broke Ham’s arm at ONE Fight Night 14 so there doesn’t seem to be too much prospect of an immediate rematch being ordered.
That leaves Zamboanga as the top contender. Her three year wait could finally be over although having fought three times already in 2023 it is possible Stamp might be looking to take some time off.
Zamboanga has only fought once this year so her schedule doesn’t exactly align with Stamp’s. Of the other ranked fighters Alyona Rassohyna has just had a baby, Tiffany Teo doesn’t appear to be able to make the weight and Jihin Radzuan has already lost to the Filipina once.
View this post on Instagram
More effective
Zamboanga regularly posts videos of herself pumping heavy iron in the gym. In the comments someone pointed out that this seemed to be making her more effective as a fighter,
All the dead lifts and squats are paying off!
Zamboanga and Stamp were close friends when they trained together at the Fairtex Gym in Pattaya. The latter decided to switch camps when both fighters entered the atomweight Grand Prix in 2021.
If Zamboanga does fight Stamp then she will surely be looking to take the Muay Thai veteran down. Preparation already seems to be well underway in that respect.
