KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Muay Thai champion, Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, described his upcoming bout against the five-time WMF Muay Thai champion from Vietnam, Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat, as difficult but not impossible to win.
Johan is set to challenge Tran Duy in the flyweight category at the Impact Arena in Bangkok this Saturday during the ONE 167 fight event.
The Sarawak-born athlete, also known as Jojo, is confident in his preparations with Thai coach Addy Sipangyak, which began immediately after completing his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia exams in March.
Unlike previous preparations, Johan explained that this time, his training has been the best since he became a Muay Thai fighter because he no longer needs to balance his time between training and studies.
Moreover, for this fight, Johan revealed that he has been assisted by nearly 20 support staff, including a masseur, nutritionist, strength and conditioning coach, chef, and more.
“I believe Nguyen Tran Duy will be my toughest opponent yet in my Muay Thai career. He is not easy, but not impossible to beat, and there are several things I need to be cautious about.
“He is experienced, older, and possesses speed. He has faced many stronger fighters before.
“But I also have my advantages; I am younger, improving, and have the heart for this fight.
“We have our own game plan. Nguyen is a technical fighter who likes to counter-attack, so I may need to adjust my fighting style in hopes of putting pressure on him.
“In this preparation, I have many people supporting me, about 20 in total. The ones you see in the ring are only 10% of them, as the rest have been assisting me outside the ring,” said Johan during an online press conference today.
At the same time, Johan also hopes to bring home the US$50,000 (RM234,500) performance bonus offered by the organisers, provided he meets the weight limit and wins the fight on Saturday.
Last December, Johan missed out on the chance to claim the US$50,000 reward despite defeating Mexican fighter Edgar Tabares after missing his weight.
“I will weigh in on Thursday, and my weight is in good condition now, thanks to the nutritionist and chef who have been assisting with my diet. So, I don’t think my weight will be a problem this time.
“However, I am not using money as my motivation to win on Saturday. I fight because I love it and want to make Malaysia proud. But if I can get it, it will be a bonus for me,” he added. – June 3, 2024