Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres found a silver lining in the Philippine government-imposed lockdown that aims to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The island of Luzon in the Philippines is on lockdown up until 30 April, and since Torres cannot be with her family in Zamboanga City, the ONE Championship atomweight is spending this time with her second family – the Catalan Fighting System team.
“I am not happy at all with the spread of this virus,” Torres said, “especially since the count continues to rise to this day. There are a lot of people affected by the lockdown, especially some families who [make a living] on a daily basis.”
“However, we have nothing more to do but to try and look for positives and in this lockdown, I felt like I have boosted my personality and strengthened my relationship with the people in the gym.”
Before the lockdown, “The Zamboanginian Fighter” focused solely on training, but with the quarantine in effect, she can now socialize with her teammates.
Her head coach and former ONE Strawweight World Title contender, Rene “The Challenger” Catalan, is also keeping everyone on Catalan Fighting System busy during the lockdown.
“Coach Rene prepared a lot of group activities for us during the lockdown. We study the bible, we play games, we even make home training videos,” Torres said.
“Every activity brings us closer together. Back then, we were all just focused on training, so now at least the lockdown brought a silver lining.”
With uncertainty looming over everyone, Zamboanga now concentrates on becoming a better person each day and prays for the virus to be contained soon.
“Now I’m just enjoying all the extra time that I have. Not only are we helping out in stopping the virus by staying at home, it can also help us dig deep with our personal traits,” Zamboanga said.
“It’s all about looking for positive things now because I know this will help me in the future, whether in the cage or in real life.”
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