Malaysian teenager Johan Ghazali has been fighting in Thailand for several years but you wouldn’t call him an overnight success. In fact, his career got off to a very slow start: five losses out of his first five fights. “I came to Thailand to get experience, we weren’t looking to win,” said the 17-year-old.
“For the first four fights I fought at Max Muay Thai in Pattaya and my fifth fight I fought in Lumpinee and got my arse beat – but it’s all a learning curve.” Then he had a breakthrough year in 2023, fighting five times on ONE Championship cards, and winning all of them – four via knockout. Ghazali had clearly learned from those early setbacks, which he feels has made him the fighter he is today.
Just how good Ghazali will be seen as ONE 167 next month, when he takes on Vietnamese Trần Duy Nhất Nguyễn at Impact Arena. The fight in Bangkok on June 7 is bound to attract a lot of viewers in Thailand. This will be the second time Ghazali will fight on the Saturday morning events, which are broadcast live on Prime Video in North America.
Ghazali feels he has made a step up and wants to demonstrate his punching power to a global audience. “I’m excited to show the world what I can do. I’m looking forward to showing the people that I belong here.
” One factor that has clearly worked in the teenager’s favour is ONE Championship’s introduction of three-round Muay Thai fights with MMA gloves. Fighters clearly pack more of a punch with the sma.