Jul 25, 2021

5 Of The Best Female Boxers In ONE Championship

ONE Women's Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan unleashes her boxing

ONE Championship has a plethora of elite female martial artists. Some are exceptional in mixed martial arts. Others have perfected a single discipline.

In order to reach the top, however, each of these women had to incorporate boxing into their fighting style.

From newcomers who stunned in their debuts to seasoned veterans who continue to dominate their divisions, here are five of the best female boxers in ONE Championship.

Jackie Buntan

Jackie Buntan fights Wondergirl Fairtex at ONE: FISTS OF FURY

Jackie Buntan may only have two fights in The Home Of Martial Arts, but she closed the deal on both of those bouts with her impressive boxing – not surprising since the Filipina-American trains out of Boxing Works under Brian Popejoy in California, USA.

Fans got to witness her boxing skills when she debuted against Thai rising star Wondergirl Fairtex at ONE: FISTS OF FURY in February 2021. From the opening bell, Buntan peppered Wondergirl with straight right-left hook combinations, one of which came after an inside low kick and floored the Thai in the first round.

Two months later, Buntan out-boxed Ekaterina “Barbie” Vandaryeva at “ONE on TNT IV” to score a majority decision win, and now the Filipina-American’s stock is soaring in the weight class.

Xiong Jing Nan

ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan is known for dominating her weight division with her mixed martial arts skills, but she can throw hands, too. After all, she was previously a member of the Chinese national boxing team.

Out of 18 wins, she has ten knockouts to her name. Some of those knockouts (and technical knockouts) are over the likes of Tiffany “No Chill” Teo, April Osenio, Samara Santos, and ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee when the pair met at strawweight.

Xiong sharpens her boxing at Evolve in Singapore under the guidance of multiple-time Boxing World Champion Drian Francisco, so expect the strawweight queen to keep honing her hand skills for years to come.

Asha Roka

Gina Iniong defeats Asha Roka ONE FIRE FURY DC DUX_0553.jpg

Female boxing sensation Asha “Knockout Queen” Roka hasn’t had the same successful run in the all-encompassing sport of mixed martial arts as Xiong, but she makes up for it with her boxing career. The Indian got started in the sport when she was 12 years old in 2010.

Since then, she has won seven medals in “the sweet science,” including gold medals in the Sub-Junior National Boxing Championships in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and in the 2nd Nations Cup International Sub-Junior Boxing Tournament in 2013.

Roka doesn’t have another bout scheduled in ONE just yet, but when she returns to the Circle, she’ll no doubt bring the fire she’s known for having in her hands.

Meng Bo

Meng Bo is a fiery mixed martial artist who loves to work over her opponents with her boxing. In fact, five of the Chinese athlete’s 16 wins have come from knockout or technical knockout courtesy of her powerful punches.

Since joining ONE Championship in 2019, Meng has scored two knockout victories. The first came in her debut at ONE: AGE OF DRAGONS, where she earned a first-round KO win over Laura Balin. The second came at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX II, when she knocked out Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol, also in the first round.

Most recently, Meng made headlines after she was picked as one of the eight women to compete in the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix and then called out Denice “Lycan Queen” Zamboanga, saying she’d “beat her up and take her spot as the #1-ranked atomweight in the division.”

Janet Todd

ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion Janet “JT” Todd is a mentor to the aforementioned Buntan, and the American has boxing skills to match. Although she hasn’t scored many knockouts over her opponents using her punches, her combinations set her up for success.

Todd is 6-1 in ONE Championship and redeemed her only promotional loss when she rematched former two-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex at ONE: KING OF THE JUNGLE in February 2020, where her boxing combinations helped her take the split-decision win and the Thai’s kickboxing belt.

“JT” has yet to defend her belt, as she’s been busy winning ONE Super Series Muay Thai bouts against #4-ranked Alma Juniku and #3-ranked Anne “Ninja” Line Hogstad. When she returns to kickboxing action, expect her boxing to look as sharp as ever.