Drex Zamboanga will always have his sister Denice’s back.
When ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that they will not force Angela Lee to vacate her Atomweight World Championship due to pregnancy, it did not sit well with Drex.
“To be honest, I think the atomweight belt should have been vacated, and let the top two ranked fighters contend for it. The atomweight world title belongs to the division, and if the champion wants to keep it, they need to fight to defend it,” opined Drex, himself a former URCC national champion.
“It has already been a year since Angela last fought to defend that title. No champion of any combat sport can keep their title for more than a year without defending it. Now she gets to keep it for another year because of her personal reasons. I don’t think it’s fair for other fighters under this division, and most importantly I don’t think it’s fair for ONE. Denice challenged Angela to vacate the title out of respect for other competitors in the division.”
Denice and Angela figured in a war of words last week regarding this issue.
Lee went to social media to say that she did not believe Denice had done enough to earn her number one status, and that she should defeat more ranked opponents in order to truly be worthy of a shot at the belt.
Denice clapped back at the Singaporean superstar, imploring the champion to vacate her title as she would be unable to defend it for almost two years due to inactivity.
Sityodtong would later announce that a Grand Prix will be held early next year which will determine the rightful challenger to Lee.
“In my opinion, there is no need to determine who should fight Angela when she comes back, as Denice is already the number one contender for the title. She earned that spot on the rankings by already beating the top talents like Jihin Radzuan and Mei Yamaguchi. She beat them convincingly too. I think she has done enough to fight for the world title,” said Drex.
“That being said, the Atomweight Grand Prix is a great concept. It’s an opportunity for Denice to win a prestigious world title. It’s the same title held by a legend like Demetrious Johnson. We are very grateful ONE Championship is doing this for the women’s atomweight division.”
When Lee returns, Drex is confident that Denice has what it takes to hand Lee her first loss in the atomweight division.
“Denice has been training hard every day for her championship fight. We knew from day one that she has the skills to beat Angela. I am excited for that fight, when it happens.”
