Five-time WMF champ Duy Nhat hands S’wak Muay Thai phenom Jojo first ONE loss

KUCHING (June 8): Sarawak-based Muay Thai phenom Johan ‘Jojo’ Ghazali suffered his first lost at the ONE 167 Championship, where he faced off against his toughest opponent — five-time WMF Muay Thai Championship belt holder Vietnamese Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat.

In the three-round fight in the Flyweight category, Jojo fired a barrage of jabs and kicks on his opponent, who managed to defend himself and land hard sidekicks on the teen wonder.

Despite having his mouthpiece dropped in the first round, Duy Nhat managed to frustrate Jojo by evading most of the latter’s combination of attacks.

Duy Nhat landed several sidekicks on Jojo in the first two rounds, and managed to knock the latter from his stance with a sidekick after Jojo tried a left-foot kick on Duy Nhat which missed.

Jojo was knocked down on the ring, convincing the judges of Duy Nhat’s victory by unanimous decision.

With this loss, Jojo — who represents the Rentap Muay Thai Gym — missed the chance to win a performance bonus of US$50,000 (approximately RM235,332.68).

In October last year, Jojo made history after he became the youngest fighter to earn a US$100,000 contract with ONE Championship.

He previously won five consecutive fights in the championship, four of which were knockouts.-NEW STRAITS TIMES