ONE Championship: Angela Lee admits Stamp Fairtex punch ‘scared’ her, but denies being vulnerable to good body shot
- ONE atomweight queen Lee has been hurt by body shots in two recent fights, but denies being vulnerable in this area
- ‘Honestly, a liver shot is the way to beat anyone,’ she says. ‘Your body just shuts down’
Midway through the first round of her title defence against Stamp Fairtex last month, ONE atomweight champion Angela Lee was badly hurt by a sizzling punch to the body.
For a moment, it looked like she was done for, as she was almost doubled over in pain. But she weathered that adversity to win the fight by second-round submission to the roar of the ONE X crowd inside the packed Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“It took the wind out of me, for sure,” Lee (11-2) said. “I was trying to catch my breath and trying to recover. I was scared, I didn’t want [the referee] to stop the fight. So that’s why – as much pain as I was in – I tried my hardest to keep fighting, keep throwing punches, to try to move forward, defend myself, and just keep moving. I didn’t want an early stoppage.”
The fight with Stamp was not the first time Lee has been badly hurt by a body shot. In a 2019 loss to ONE strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan, the 25-year-old Canadian-American was stung and ultimately stopped by a vicious fifth-round kick to the midsection.
Having seen Lee get hurt by body shots more than once, some fans – and undoubtedly some of the champion’s rivals – now believe attacking her torso could be the key to usurping the atomweight throne.
But Lee insists she no more vulnerable to body attacks than anybody else.
“Honestly, a liver shot is the way to beat anyone,” she said. “It’s the right technique. Heavyweights can’t take liver shots. Your body just shuts down. I was really just proud of myself for just doing what I needed to do in order to keep the fight [with Stamp] going.”
