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Mathew Scott

Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen had her arm raised in the ring on Friday night but from that exact moment on luck – and a split decision – went against the Vietnamese-American.
The referee had heard the judges’ call wrong and so it was Myanmar’s Bozhena “Toto” Antoniyar who was the actual winner of their atomweight clash that helped kick off preliminaries on the One: Masters of Destiny card inside Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena.
Nguyen (5-4) looked despondent. Antoniyar (3-1) looked elated. And those in the crowd looked at each other in apparent wonder.
“I thought I won. One ref maybe thought I won. I don’t know,” Nguyen said afterwards. “It’s hard because I respect my opponent but I don’t think that was a close fight. I dropped her. I controlled the fight. I’m going to have to watch the fight again.”


Nguyen took to social media to ask fans what they thought, more in a search for support than protest.
“It’s emotionally very hard for me to take a loss,” said Nguyen. “I’m a winner I don’t lose easy. Sometimes when you’re a fighter you’re emotional – you want to win.
“If it’s just you saying you won you don’t know if you’re right or wrong. But to hear hundreds of people on the internet now saying I won, that makes me feel good. You just need support when you’re not feeling happy right now so thank you to everybody. Win or loss this sport is all about who we are so this is me.”

Myanmar’s Bozhena Antoniyar picks up a split decision win over Bi "Killer Bee" Nguyen! #WeAreONE #MastersOfDestiny #KualaLumpur #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/eMqtlz5vrZ
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 12, 2019

It had promised to be a pretty close call as both fighters stood up and delivered across the three rounds but Nguyen looked to have done enough, especially given a final flurry that seemed to put the result beyond doubt. But there obviously was plenty of that as two out of the three judges gave the nod to the Myanmar fighter.
“I was confident,” said Antoniyar when asked how she thought the fight would be called. “I thought I had done enough for the victory.”
The first round set the template for what was to follow. It was all stand and deliver with Nguyen landing a huge straight left after about half a minute that sent Antoniyar to the canvas. Nguyen was rushing in to finish things off when the Myanmar fighter somehow scrambled to her feet, and for the rest of the round the pair traded shots, a right from Antoniyar drawing blood from Nguyen’s nose but no real other concern.

Across the second and third the pair continued to trade shots with Nguyen looking to have done the most damage by the time the bell sounded the bout’s end. But she had looked wary throughout of working her way inside Antoniyar, and trying to take her to the ground, given the Myanmar fighter’s background as a national boxing champion and sometime lethwei exponent.
The decision not to try to take it to the mat proved costly, given the way the fight was eventually read by the judges. Put it down to Antoniyar’s superior experience in ring craft.
The 24-year-old Antoniyar is definitely improving.
“My background is in boxing so I know how to get points from the judges,” said Antoniyar. “I thought I was very strong all through the fight. She was very fast and very strong but I thought I finished off the fight strongest.”

Nguyen admitted more attention might have been paid to taking things to the ground. “I slipped up on that,” she said. “A lot of mistakes made. A lot of people say don’t leave it to the judges, I should have knocked her out.
“But it’s not an easy game we play. I felt like she was backing up a lot and I should have taken advantage of that. I should have taken her down.”
And so there is interest in how the rest of 2019 plays out for Nguyen, who is up for the One kick-boxing card in Ho Chi Minh City on September 6, and has obviously been looking to work her way into contention in a division that will later this year become the central focus of One fans and of the MMA world at large.
That is down to the fact that Angela “Unstoppable” Lee (9-1) will on October 13 put her atomweight title up for grabs against China’s Xiong “The Panda” Jingnan (14-1), the current strawweight champ and the woman responsible for the only blemish on Lee’s record.

That came through a pounding TKO the Chinese star laid on in Tokyo back in March that asked questions of Lee for the first time in the 23-year-old sensation’s career. She looks now far more comfortable in herself at strawweight, so it remains to be seen how Lee’s drop back down a division goes.
On Friday night such matters were of little concern to Nguyen, of course.
“You know you cannot be perfect but you can be good enough, and I think I was good enough,” said Nguyen. “But I’m healthy, I’m ready to go. Put me on in Vietnam, put me back in there. That is what we athletes want. But the loss is just a number. A rematch would be great. If not I’ll move on and keep doing what I love.”


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One Championship: Bi Nguyen stung by judges in sensational split decision loss

Bozhena Antoniyar’s arm is raised as Bi Nguyen (right) looks incredulous. Photos: One Championship

Bi Nguyen kicks Bozhena Antoniyar

Bi Nguyen lands a punch on Bozhena Antoniyar

Bozhena Antoniyar celebrates after beating Bi Nguyen

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Angela Lee (right) is back in action. Photos: One Championship

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Bi Nguyen poses at the open workout in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: One Championship

Bi Nguyen

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Angela Lee (left) looks dejected after Michelle Nicolini's arm is raised.

Michelle Nicolini is a world-class grappler.

Angela Lee punches Xiong Jingnan

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Michelle Nicolini has her arm raised after beating Angela Lee in a grappling match. Photos: One Championship

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Sport

Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts

Bi Nguyen baffled after losing split decision to Myanmar boxer Bozhena Antoniyar in Kuala Lumpur
‘I thought I won … I don’t think that was a close fight. I dropped her, I controlled it’


Bi Nguyen baffled after losing split decision to Myanmar boxer Bozhena Antoniyar in Kuala Lumpur – ‘I thought I won … I don’t think that was a close fight’


Martial arts

Myanmar

Vietnam

One Championship: Bi Nguyen stung by judges in sensational split decision loss

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Bi Nguyen baffled after losing split decision to Myanmar boxer Bozhena Antoniyar in Kuala Lumpur ‘I thought I won … I don’t think that was a close fight. I dropped her, I controlled it’

Bi Nguyen baffled after losing split decision to Myanmar boxer Bozhena Antoniyar in Kuala Lumpur

‘I thought I won … I don’t think that was a close fight. I dropped her, I controlled it’