16 y/o M’sian Muay Thai Fighter Wins RM44k After 16-Second Knockout Victory At Debut Match

By Lara Kramer  •  27 Feb 2023 in News

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How many men does it take to score an epic knockout at a boxing stadium? Apparently, one 16-year-old Malaysian is enough – and he’ll get it done in sixteen seconds.

That’s right; Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, a teen Muay Thai combatant, stunned the audience and made headlines after a speedy knockout against his Thai opponent Padetsuk Fairtex at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Friday (February 24).

Johan struck Padetsuk in the face with a left hook and a right overhand punch, as shown in the now-viral video, leading his opponent to collapse to the floor and earning his place as the winner of the ONE Championship debut match.

The Sarawakian also won a whopping 350,000 baht (≈RM44,569) for his victory, to which he has given the moniker, “The 10,000 Dollar Punch”.

Footage of the instance, which was posted to Johan’s Instagram profile, earned tonnes of encouraging comments with many lovingly remarking, “Congrats, Jojo!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MUHAMMAD JOHAN “JOJO” GHAZALI (@johanghazali_)

Johan humbly admitted to Bernama that he never imagined himself defeating his opponent so quickly, what more by a knockout. However, the young man, who fights for Rentap Muay Thai Club, noted that he owed the victory to an arduous one and a half month long preparation for his ONE Championship debut.

“I’ve always wanted to compete in ONE Championship fights. I worked hard while training to achieve my goal. I worked out for roughly eight hours a day, spending four hours in the morning starting at six and another four hours in the afternoon starting at four. Well, all of my effort has paid off,” he said.

Finally, speaking of his success thus far, Johan expressed his gratitude to his trainer, Addy Singpayak, for looking after him and ensuring that he trained regularly.

Just last year, the teen won the 14–15 category (under 60 kg) championship in the 2022 IFMA World Youth Muay Thai Championship, proving that he’s one to watch when it comes to the Southeast Asian Muay Thai scene!