ONE Championship returns to the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for ONE Fight Night 20 with a main event that has fireworks written all over it. Janet Todd and ‘The Queen’ Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom will lock horns in a world title unification war on March 8.
Apart from the pair of ONE world champions starring in the main event, the card – which coincides with International Women’s Day 2024 – features two more intriguing ties announced by the promotion on their website yesterday.
Todd enters her fifth year as the ONE atomweight kickboxing world champion, and she hopes to keep that streak alive despite losing her seven-match unbeaten streak to Allycia Hellen Rodrigues in March last year.
‘JT’ claimed the interim atomweight Muay Thai gold against Lara Fernandez in July 2022 during Rodrigues’ absence due to maternity leave.
However, the Brazilian striker and mom-champ announced her return with a crushing performance over the American athlete at ONE Fight Night 8.
That defeat does not change anything about Janet Todd’s status, though. The 38-year-old still holds a perfect 3-0 slate in kickboxing on the global stage, and she will take every bit of inspiration from her past displays to upset one of the most in-form strikers on the ONE Championship roster.
Phetjeeja enjoyed a banner year in 2023, with an unblemished 5-0 run capped off by her interim atomweight kickboxing world title success over Anissa Meksen at ONE Friday Fights 46 in December last year.
Now, the 22-year-old, who fights out of Team Mehdi Zatout in Thailand, hopes to make it two wins from as many world title matchups under the ONE banner when she meets Janet Todd inside the Mecca of Muay Thai.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire card live and for free in U.S. primetime on Friday, March 8.
Janet Todd’s crushing highlight-reel wins in ONE Championship
From seven victories under the ONE spotlight, the former two-sport queen has racked up three highlight-reel finishes – one in kickboxing and a pair in ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’.
After suffering a debut loss to Stamp Fairtex in February 2019, the California native made a statement in her sophomore outing when she dropped Wang Chin Long with heavy leg kicks just before the end of round two.
Months later, Janet Todd went toe-to-toe with Ekaterina Vandaryeva and planted a picturesque head kick to take home a finish and another knockout.
Most recently, the Boxing Works representative folded Anne Line Hogstad with a gut-wrenching kick to the midsection at the midway point of the third round.