Drex “T-Rex” Zamboanga’s first-round knockout victory over Rahul “The Kerala Krusher” Raju may have made it look like he had an easy transition from flyweight to lightweight. However, the truth behind his fight at ONE: FULL CIRCLE on 25 February says otherwise.
“At first, I struggled adjusting to lightweight. It’s not easy because I jumped three weight classes, but I had to maintain my speed,” the Marrok Force mainstay revealed in a recent interview.
“I focused on enhancing my speed and power during my training and loaded up on conditioning to match [Raju’s] strength.”
But the 28-year-old competitor based in Bangkok, Thailand, overcame the struggles and finished Raju in 65 seconds. The impressive performance at the heavier weight class was a result of Zamboanga following the strategy that he and his coach created.
“I was able to maintain my training and executed my game plan against Raju very well. I’m very happy because it’s been two years since I last fought due to injury,” said the fighter who remains undefeated in ONE Championship.
After his fight against Raju, Zamboanga sees himself staying at lightweight rather than flyweight because he believes he’s better off competing in that division.
“I would like to be in a higher division, either lightweight or featherweight, because I’m more comfortable fighting in these weight classes,” he added. “I’m still relatively big in lightweight so there won’t be problems for me to remain in this division.”
Now that he’s calling the lightweight division home, “T-Rex” revealed without hesitation the fighter he’d like to face soon.
“If possible, I would like to face (former ONE Lightweight World Champion) Christian Lee. I’ve been watching his fights from way back, and I feel like we’d have an interesting match skill-wise.”
For now, he will take a break from competition by returning home to his family in the Philippines. However, he took time to express his gratitude to those who helped him along the way.
“I am very thankful for my family because they gave me 100 percent support when I was in the Philippines. I would also like to thank Marrok Force for the support they give every time I fight,” Zamboanga added.
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