Our Malaysian-born talents have been on a roll lately and we couldn’t be prouder. There are a lot of things to celebrate. Last week, the ever-so-gifted VFX artist Sofyank96 collaborated with Marvel’s “Ant-Man” star Paul Rudd in a video to promote the actor’s new movie.
Just earlier today (Monday, 27th February), Dato Michelle Yeoh made history once again by being the first-ever Asian actress to win a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. In addition, one Malaysian athlete was recently crowned as the champion during an International Muay Thai tournament!
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Introducing Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar or Jojo, a 16-year-old Muay Thai fighter from Sarawak, Malaysia. The teenage athlete recently competed in the ONE Championship tournament at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand where he was up against 18-year-old Thai fighter, Padetsuk Fairtex. Just because your opponent is older, doesn’t mean they’re better.
In the video posted on Instagram, the Malaysian boxer proved his strength and skills by dodging his opponent’s attacks and knocking him out in a single punch! According to Bernama, the Sarawakian basically won the match in just 16 seconds! The Malaysian athlete was then announced as the champion of the tournament, taking home the bonus performance prize of 350,000 baht (RM44,533)!
“It was a dream come true for me to make my ONE Championship debut and the knockout victory was unexpected,” he told Bernama. Jojo also shared that he went through extensive training for less than 2 months to prepare for the international tournament and that it’s always been a dream for him to represent Rentap Muay Thai Club for ONE Championship. Netizens, celebs, and fellow athletes all congratulated the Muay Thai fighter for his outstanding performance.
As for what Jojo plans to do with the money, it is currently unknown but we’re guessing that part of that money will go to his club’s funds. For your information, the 16-year-old also won in the 14-15 (under 60kg) category at the 2022 IFMA World Youth Muay Thai Championships.
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