ONE Championship: Angela Lee sees Ham Seo-hee as next atomweight fight, plans to ‘stay active’ in two divisions
- Atomweight champ is set to challenge Xiong Jingnan for strawweight gold at ONE on Prime Video 2 this Saturday in Singapore
- Lee thought she would defend her atomweight belt first against Ham, but says she was told the South Korean was injured
Angela Lee is on the hunt for the ONE Championship strawweight title, but she has not forgotten her duties as the promotion’s atomweight champion.
The Canadian-American, 25, is set to challenge China’s Xiong Jingnan for strawweight gold in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 2 this Saturday in Singapore.
That challenge is consuming the bulk of her focus at the moment, but she intends to return to atomweight to defend the division’s throne in the new year.
“I’m hoping to make 2023 a busy and active year,” Lee (11-2) told the Post from Singapore on Tuesday. “That’s the goal.”
It is not currently clear who is next in line for a shot at Lee’s atomweight belt, but the champion, like many fans, sees popular veteran Ham Seo-hee as a likely candidate.
The South Korean veteran is 2-0 in ONE, with back-to-back decision wins over Denice Zamboanga, and achieved some impressive accomplishments before joining the promotion.
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From the sounds of it, however, she is at risk of losing her spot at the front of the queue.
“Initially my thoughts were I was going to fight [Ham] in the atomweight division, but if she’s going to be not too active, then other fighters are going to get that opportunity,” Lee said.
“I was looking forward to that fight. I thought that was going to be the fight to happen for my next fight, but I was told that she was injured.”
Ham is not the only fighter in the running for a crack at Lee’s atomweight belt.
Stamp Fairtex and Jihin Radzuan, ONE’s No 1 and 5-ranked atomweight contenders, are set to meet earlier on the ONE on Prime Video 2 card, and the winner will be well-positioned for a championship opportunity.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday,” Lee said of the high-stakes atomweight match-up.
If Lee defeats Xiong on Saturday, she will become one of just a few two-division champions in ONE history. Accomplishing that feat will be a momentous achievement, but it will also double her duties in the promotion, as she will have two titles to defend rather than just one.
She does not see that as a problem.
“I feel pretty confident that I would be able to fight in both divisions and stay pretty active,” she said.
ONE on Prime Video 2 will also feature a featherweight kickboxing title fight between Thai champion Superbon and Turkish-Dutchman Tayfun Ozcan, and a flyweight submission grappling match between Mikey Musumeci and Cleber Sousa, which will crown the promotion’s first champion in the sport.
