Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 25) – Different results took place for Filipino fighters in ONE: Full Circle on Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
In the first fight of the event’s lead card, Drex Zamboanga had a rousing debut as a lightweight fighter after knocking out Rahu Raju in the first round.
Zamboanga and Raju both got tangled up in the opening minutes of the match, but the Filipino got an opportunity and landed a huge right uppercut that sent his Indian foe down on the canvas.
The fight only lasted for a minute and five seconds as Zamboanga improved his record to 9-5 while Raju dropped to 8-7.
In the post-fight interview, the Marrok Force standout said the victory proved his two-year preparation for moving into a heavier weight class was worth the gamble.
“From flyweight to lightweight, it’s not very easy because you need to train your speed, conditioning, and you need to be heavy. One of the reasons why I moved to lightweight because I want to have heavy hands, heavy strikes, and to dominate in the lightweight (division),” said Zamboanga.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Pacatiw suffered a first round knockout loss against number four-ranked ONE bantamweight contender Fabricio Andrade.
The Team Lakay bet had been scoring body hits against his Brazilian foe in the early moments of the fight.
A stinging liver shot by Andrade floored Pacatiw, which was enough for the referee to stop the fight.
Pacatiw fell to 11-5 while Andrade moved up to 7-2.
