Jojo to fight Mexican Josue Cruz at ONE 168: Denver in US this Sept

KUCHING (Aug 8): Sarawak muaythai sensation Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar or better known as “Jojo” is all pumped up and looking forward to a homecoming fight in the ONE Championship flyweight fight – ONE 168: Denver – at Denver Ball Arena, Colorado, in the United States (US) on Sept 6.

The 17-year-old phenomenon will also be looking to redeem himself after losing to Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat of Vietnam during his sixth ONE Championship fight last June.

It will be his seventh pro fight and his next opponent is Josue “Tuzo” Cruz of Mexico who has suffered two defeats in as many ONE Championship fights.

“In my previous six fights, I have four KO wins, one draw and one defeat. I am pretty confident in my next fight as I have been training very hard for the past few months and I am ready for it,” he told reporters at Rentap Muay Thai Gym at Jalan Wan Alwi here today.

“I have studied and watched videos of the fights of my opponent who is 28 years old, almost 12 years older than me, I am sure he is more experienced than me but my advantages will be my youth, my strength, my energy, my hunger and I will play towards my strengths and as long as throughout the fight there is no injury or complications it will be fine.

“I feel that this event will be one of the biggest fights in my pro career considering that stars like Jonathan Haggerty, Superlek Kiatmoo, Liam Harrison have fought in the ONE Championship and I am excited to fight on that card,” said Jojo who has put his defeat to Nguyen behind him and moving forward after learning much from that defeat and he is very grateful for the experience.

He has since worked on his weaknesses and turned them into his strengths.

“One of the biggest lessons I have learnt from the fight against Nguyen is the difference between fighting in the ring and the octagon.

“This is my first time fighting in the US but I have been to Colorado a few times where my mother Jennana Lynn Thompson comes from and it will be a sort of homecoming for me and I want to do well there.

“I do feel the pressure to win in front of my family and relatives from my mother’s side but this gives me more motivation and hunger to win and I want to put on a good show for them and make sure everyone’s time is worth it coming to watch me fight Josue,” he said.

“The defeat has made me stronger, after losing to Nguyen, I upped my training, I trained harder, I am more motivated and feel more hungry to win,” added Jojo.

To prepare for the fight, Jojo trained twice a day, three to four hours in the morning and three to four hours in the afternoon, as well as mental training.

His mother is very excited and very happy and was almost in tears when he signed the Denver ONE Championship contract

Jojo will be flying to the US next Wednesday on Aug 14 to acclimatise himself to the conditions there.

“I am no stranger to Denver because I have been there a few times with my mother, my blood is there and I think I should adapt quite easily,” he added.

He also thanked his fans for the support they have been giving him since the very beginning.

“I want to say thank you to all my fans in Malaysia especially those who have been supporting me since the beginning and please pray for my success and I will do my best for the country and bring Malaysia to the peak.

“Although I am fighting in the US, my heart is still with you all in Malaysia,” he said.