Johan Ghazali And Rustam Yunusov Have Already Fought Three Times, And Both Want A Fourth
Long before either teenager reached Lumpinee Stadium, Johan “Jojo” Ghazali and Rustam “Tomahawk” Yunusov were trading shots at the IFMA World Youth Muay Thai Championships. Yunusov won their first two meetings, and Ghazali took the third in 2022.
Now 19 and both thriving in ONE Championship, the old rivals are circling each other again. This time, the opening exchanges are happening in interviews.
Yunusov fired first after outpointing Thai veteran Suriyanlek Por Yenying by unanimous decision in the main event of The Inner Circle 34 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The win kept the Russian perfect at 18-0, including 9-0 in ONE, and pushed him closer to a US$100,000 main roster contract.
Rather than talk up a rematch, the One Chance and Tomahawk Kamilov Team product chose to take a swipe at the Malaysian-American’s profile outside the ring.
“What I can say about Johan – I cannot say anything, because I don’t want to fight with actors. I fight with fighters. Johan has to film Malaysian films,” Yunusov said.
Ghazali was in no mood to be wounded by it. Fresh from avenging his earlier loss to Diego Paez at The Inner Circle 35, the Rentap Muaythai Gym and Superbon Training Camp athlete treated the jab as flattery.
“Thank you very much. Thank you so much [for the compliment]. It’s not easy to look like me. It’s not easy to be as rich as me. It’s not easy to be as influential as me. So I take it as a compliment,” Ghazali said.
The humor did not hide his intent. Ghazali, now 28-11, holds the most recent win in their youth trilogy and believes he would extend that edge on the global stage.
He has heard Yunusov calling for this fight for some time. If the fans want it, he is more than willing to oblige, and he already knows how he would celebrate.
“Rustam, you’ve been calling for this fight for a while. If the fans want to see it, I have no problem. Let’s do it, and I’ll beat you again like the last time I did. And then, I’ll make a movie about it,” he said.
READ MORE: Floyd Mayweather Claims Conor McGregor Stole His Swag After $300 Million Fight
Recent posts
