Jackielo Bontan came to the ONE Championship with an outstanding record of 20 wins and 5 losses, as well as the IAMTF Championship champion and IKF California Women's Championship, hoping to impress boxing fans by beating Wonder Girl in the debut of "ONE: Fist of Flames" on February 26.
The 23-year-old American boxer from California has a world champion training partner, that is, atomic weight kickboxing world champion Janet Todd. She and Todd belong to the same team, practice together under the guidance of coach Bryan Popejoy, and often play together on weekdays, so Buntan is fully able to adapt to the world's top level of competition.
The youngest of the four siblings in Bontan, the Filipino girl has been sports since she was a child, practicing Muay Thai with Popejoy for 12 years at the age of 11. In the process, Buntan's family suffered a financial crisis, and her future became very uncertain. "We moved out of the house and lost college tuition and cars." But Buntan did not lose his passion for Muay Thai. "Every time I go to the gym to train, I repeat the same thing, it makes me feel like life isn't so bad and Muay Thai saves me. No one in the boxing gym knew I was having a hard time, not even my coaches and teammates knew what was happening. I thought that as long as I kept my passion for Muay Thai, I would be able to survive the tough times. ”
Coach Popejoy gave Bontan a lot of help and was a mentor and friend. "For me, he's not only a coach, he's also a good friend of mine. I really can't imagine living without him. He understood my situation and was full of patience with me. He saw the strengths and weaknesses in me and helped me improve my technique and keep improving. "Buntan quickly became a great Muay Thai boxer." My coach not only pays attention to Muay Thai competitions, but also constantly absorbs various styles and uses this knowledge to help me improve. I don't even have to tell him about the problems he's having, he knows in advance how to improve them. ”
With the help of her coach, Buntan's career was smooth sailing, she won the championship in the championship and came to the ONE Championship with an 80% win rate, which is the international stage she has always dreamed of. She hopes to win the Grassweight Muay Thai World Championship, and become the pride of the boxing gym like Atomic Weight Kickboxing World Champion Janet Todd.
But Wonder Girl is a formidable opponent. The 22-year-old Thai girl, who has won two-time PAT Muay Thai championship, competed in two consecutive tournaments last year: ONE: Never Give Up III and ONE: Everything Born I. Fantastic Girl made her debut in just 81 seconds to knock down WBC Muay Thai Oceania champion Brooke Farrell twice, with KO winning. Seven days later, she defeated Chalong boxing champion Kristen Carlos in the second round at 1 minute 06 seconds. Eight days to end two opponents, Wonder Girl set an amazing record.
Buntan: "World championships are my primary goal, and I don't seek shortcuts to get there. I'm willing to prove that I deserve the world championship gold belt, and I want to show that to the world. "Can the world champion Janet Todd's teammate stop Wonder Girl's three-game winning streak?