Last Friday at ONE 168: Denver, young Muay Thai sensation Johan “Jojo” Ghazali found an amazing victory at the packed audience of Ball Arena in Colorado. He dismantled Mexico’s Josue “Tuzo” Cruz and achieved a first-round KO win. He is just 17 and already taking the Muay Thai world by storm. The fighter has a 6-1 record in the world’s largest martial arts organization, establishing himself as a truly elite fighter.

His victory at the ONE 168 showed how much of a threat he is in the division during his much-anticipated US debut. This win was the 17-year-old’s 5th stoppage and it earned him a whopping prize money as well!

Johan Ghazali wins an amazing cash prize.

The young champ won a US$50,000 performance bonus and even though he was satisfied with his performance, he made it clear that he was looking to challenge himself even more for the next fight. In the post-fight press conference, he talked about the swagger he carried despite coming off his first loss in the promotion.

“I’m not a stranger to loss. I’ve lost in fights before. I’ve lost in the gym. I’ve lost in life. Everyone loses. Don’t judge me on how I come back from my wins. Judge me on how I come back from my losses,” he said.

“Today I proved that no matter what you throw at me, I will still proceed to do me, you know. I will still proceed to do my best and push the limits. Losing is normal. If you’re not losing, you’re not trying hard enough.”

“Jojo” was brought down to earth in his last outing, as Vietnamese veteran Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat outplayed him at ONE 167 last June. Thankfully, he stayed true to his style and scored a highlight reel KO against Mexican slugger Josue Cruz.

What comes next for the young star remains to be seen but he has made his mark in the flyweight Muay Thai division. He is so ready that he called out a highly-ranked contender for his next bout.

Johan Ghazali Challenges Puric for the next bout

“I’m looking for a challenge, a real fight. I’m not saying my last fight before this wasn’t a challenge. But to be honest, nobody wants to see someone tip-tap toe to a decision win. This is just not entertaining. That’s exactly why I want to call out Denis Puric. I want to fight Denis Puric,” he said in his post-fight interview.

Denis Puric is currently the #2-ranked fighter in the division, and while he suffered a kickboxing loss to Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon in his last outing, he earned the respect of everyone by hanging tough against the divisional Muay Thai king.

Ghazali acknowledges the skills of “The Bosnian Menace,” and he believes that their matchup could be something of a future meets past.

Despite Ghazali’s strong run, he might be biting more than he could chew by challenging the veteran fighter. After all, Puric has years of experience under his belt, having earned his stripes under the guidance of the great Buakaw Banchamek and training alongside the likes of Superbon and Petchtanong Petchfergus.

Would you be interested to see this matchup materialize? Let us know in the comments!