Teenage prodigy Johan “Jojo” Ghazali is ready to make his U.S. primetime debut on Friday, December 8.
That evening, the Malaysian-American rising star will collide with WBC International Muay Thai Champion Edgar Tabares at ONE Fight Night 17 on Prime Video.
Their flyweight Muay Thai battle will broadcast live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 16-year-old Ghazali has greatly impressed during his brief time in ONE Championship.
After lifting eyebrows with his astonishing 16-second debut knockout at ONE Friday Fights 6 in February, he continued to showcase his dominance on the weekly Asia primetime event series.
The young phenom followed that effort by finishing Tai Sor Jor Piek Uthai, routing Samurai Seeopal via unanimous decision, and then knocking out Temirlan Bekmurzaev to earn a six-figure contract with the world’s largest martial arts organization in October.
Now, Ghazali – who will celebrate his 17th birthday on November 11 – hopes to build upon his tremendous success and kick-start the next stage of his career with a bang.
But Tabares has every intention of spoiling the youngster’s U.S. primetime premiere by delivering his first promotional loss.
The Mexican striker, who made history as the first athlete from his country to win a WBC Muay Thai International Title in 2022, hasn’t had an ideal start to life in ONE Championship.
The 29-year-old fell to longtime ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in his promotional debut this past May and then lost to #5-ranked contender Elias Mahmoudi in August.
Of course, both of those results came against the division’s elite, and Tabares believes his third outing will be the charm on December 8.
Stay tuned to onefc.com for more updates and news about ONE Fight Night 17.
