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James Goyder

Johan Ghazali blamed fighting inside a cage for the first defeat of his ONE Championship career.
The Malaysian teenager had won his first five fights which saw him become a fan favourite back home and earned him a spot on the ONE 167 card.
He was heavily fancied against Vietnam’s Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat in what was his first experience of fighting inside a cage.
But the 17-year-old said combating inside the steel structure threw him off his game.
“The difference between the cage and the ring, I underestimated that and a few other things game plan wise,” Ghazali told the Post. “In the last fight I got carried away.

“I always enjoy a crazy fight and I stepped into the arena and saw the fans there were like 15,000 or 20,000 people who wanted to see a fight and I might have got carried away but you learn from your mistakes.”
Before the defeat, Ghazali had been targeting a fight with flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon but talk of a title shot was put on ice after his defeat to Nguyen.
But that has not dampened the Malaysian’s ambition.
“Anything that’s worthwhile is hard, if it was easy everyone would do it. I learned more in that fight than in the past five wins,” Ghazali added.
The teenager is already in Denver as he looks to prepare for his fight with Josue Cruz at ONE 168 on September 6, which takes place at the Ball Arena 5,280 feet (1,609 metres) above sea level.
“I’ve been here about a week, it’s hard to sleep but I feel great,” Ghazali said. “I’ve been training hard. I came out to Denver early to acclimatise because in ONE Championship in these four-ounce (113-gram) gloves anything can happen.”
Ghazali had stopped all five fighters he faced before Nguyen but failed to land any blow of note during the defeat on July 7 and has hinted at a change in tactics for ONE 168.
“I want to showcase my skills, I’m known for my punches but in this fight I am planning to do other stuff, use more of my kicks, elbows, mix it up a bit,” Ghazali said.
Cruz has lost his last two ONE Championship fights, which means Ghazali will again be the favourite.
But he will not be taking his Mexican opponent lightly.
“The truth is he’s 28, he’s a decade older than me,” Ghazali said. “I’m sure he has more experience than me so to underestimate him would be wrong.”


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ONE Championship: teenager Johan Ghazali blames cage for first loss of his career

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Martial Arts

The Malaysian teenager had won his first five fights which saw him become a huge fan favourite back home


The Malaysian teenager had won his first five fights which saw him become a huge fan favourite back home and earned him a spot on the ONE 167 card.
