A dismayed Denice Zamboanga is hoping that ONE Championship would give her a chance to redeem herself through a rematch with South Korean foe Seo Hee Ham.
Zamboanga suffered the first loss of her career against Seo in a controversial split decision loss in the quarterfinals of the atomweight grand prix in the historic all-female card of ONE: Empower at the Singapore Indoor Stadium Friday night, Sept. 3.
If Zamboanga has the chance to reverse time, she wanted to finish Seo on the ground as early in the first round.
As evident in the match, the South Korean fighter was pinned against the wall for the most part of the opener as Zamboanga sought for an opening and only converted a late takedown before the first clapper.
"I don't know. I think I realy won the fight. I still can't believe it. I'm quite disappointed by the judges," said Zamboanga, who now has eight wins and one loss. "If ever they can review my fight and then re-decide who really won that fight, that would be great.
"Because for me I really did my best and everything. She didn't do anything. I had the control and I even took her striking, y'know. I still can't believe," said the Filipina warrior who was holding back her tears on screen.
Zamboanga, however, clarified that Seo isn't to blame for the judging and revealed that she had exchanged pleasantries with the seasoned South Korean fighter back at their quarantine hotel.
Many netizens agreed with Zamboanga that she could have won the fight while some questioned the split decision scored by Seo and that the judges could have given a unanimous decision to the Filipina.
That thought alone gave the 24-year-old Zamboanga a glimmer of hope heading into her next bout despite falling out of the grand prix contention.
Advancing to the quarterfinals are Seo, Itsuki Hirata of Japan, Ritu Phogat of India, and Zamboaga's pal Stamp Fairtex of Thailand.