Denice Zamboanga Picks Close Friend Stamp Fairtex to Beat Ritu Phogat in Grand Prix Final
Top-ranked ONE Championship women’s atomweight Denice “Lycan Queen” Zamboanga is picking her close friend and former training partner Stamp Fairtex to beat India’s Ritu Phogat in the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship Final.
Stamp and Phogat lock horns in the tournament’s final round, which goes down at ONE: Winter Warriors from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 3 December.
“This final round is very exciting, because Stamp is there and obviously she’s my friend. She’s one of the most amazing and most dangerous strikers in the division. Ritu is very good with her wrestling,” Zamboanga said in a recent interview with ONE Championship.
“It’s hard to call this bout, if Stamp dominates Ritu in the striking department and keeps this fight from hitting the mats, I think she’s going to win hands down. She has great takedown defense and her ground game is very well developed. And I’m maybe a little biased here but I think Stamp wins this fight because she’s a more complete fighter.”
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Zamboanga and Stamp previously trained together when they were teammates at the Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya. There, they formed a bond and friendship that would extend far beyond the cage.
“Lycan Queen” has since left Fairtex to join Marrok Force in Bangkok, but the two remain close friends.
“I know Stamp and I know she’s really hungry. She is really determined to win this thing, and I know she’s giving it her all. I know Ritu is too, but I’ve trained with Stamp and I know she has that unwavering will to win,” Zamboanga said.
The winner of the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship Final will, of course, earn the right to challenge division queen “Unstoppable” Angela Lee for the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title.
Zamboanga couldn’t be more excited for her friend, who is one step closer to realizing her dream of becoming a three-sport world champion.
“I know how dedicated she is to this. She’s been working so hard, and I just think it will be hard for Ritu to deny Stamp. Stamp is also the more well-rounded fighter, so we’ll see,” Zamboanga said.
“We’re finally going to see who comes out on top of this Grand Prix, and who will get to challenge Angela Lee for the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title.”
ONE: Winter Warriors will also see the return of ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion Regian Eersel, who defends his title against Islam Murtazaev. Meanwhile, Chinese kickboxing star Qiu Jianliang makes his ONE Championship debut against Hiroki Akimoto of Japan.
