ONE Championship: Anissa Meksen slams ‘incomprehensible’ Janet Todd vs Lara Fernandez match-up, demands title shot
- Meksen is 2-0 in ONE, and growing increasingly frustrated as she pursues a title shot against the reigning atomweight kickboxing queen Todd
- Algerian-Frenchwoman demands clarity from Asian martial arts promotion so she can ‘make the necessary conclusions and decide about her near future’
Anissa Meksen is adamant that she deserves the opportunity to compete for a ONE Championship world title.
The 34-year-old Algerian-Frenchwoman has long been considered one of the best female kickboxers in the world, and after winning her first two bouts in the ONE Circle, is seemingly in position for a crack at the promotion’s atomweight kickboxing champion, Janet Todd.
The 36-year-old American champ, however, recently signed on for an interim Muay Thai title fight with debuting Spaniard Lara Fernandez at ONE 159 on July 22, thereby depriving Meksen of the opportunity to compete for kickboxing gold.
News of that booking has not been well received by the frustrated contender.
“Only three months ago, Janet confirmed that, if there would be a contract, she would sign it and fight,” Meksen’s team wrote in a statement posted to her official Instagram page. “We are therefore astonished by the announcement that Janet Todd is taking on Lara Fernandez for the interim atomweight Muay Thai championship at ONE 159.
“It is in our opinion completely incomprehensible and inexplicable that a title shot is offered to a non-ranked debutant, where a well acclaimed fighter as Anissa is kept in the dark.”
ONE: Janet Todd lays out plans for Anissa Meksen fight
Meksen’s statement went on to demand that ONE grant her a title shot in her next fight, and seemed to imply that her future in the organisation could get complicated if her demands are not met.
“Having one of the most impressive track records in the sport’s history and at the age of 34, Anissa is reaching out to the organisation, explicitly claiming a title fight for her next bout,” it read. “This will allow her to make the necessary conclusions and decide about her near future.”
Meksen signed with ONE in 2020, and made her debut with the Asian martial arts promotion in 2021, defeating Christina Morales by second-round stoppage in an atomweight kickboxing contest.
She improved to 2-0 in ONE earlier this year, when she walloped the outmatched Marie Ruumet to a decision victory in another atomweight kickboxing bout.
Todd, meanwhile, captured the ONE atomweight kickboxing title with a split decision victory over Stamp Fairtex in 2020. She has yet to defend the belt, instead defeating Alma Juniku and Anne Line Hogstad in a pair of Muay Thai contests.
