ONE Fight Night 39: Jojo-Climaco flyweight Muay Thai bout postponed due to injury

KUCHING (Jan 15): Malaysian flyweight Muay Thai sensation Johan “Jojo” Ghazali will have to wait for his highly anticipated clash with Filipino-American striker Sean “The One” Climaco, after the bout was postponed due to an injury to Climaco.

According to ONE Championship’s official website, the fight has been removed from the ONE Fight Night 39 card at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, Jan 23, after Climaco sustained a foot injury during training.

The matchup had been billed as a classic “prodigy vs veteran” showdown, pitting Ghazali’s youthful talent against Climaco’s experience and composure.

Johan has recently been evolving his style, moving away from pure aggression to train with legends like Superbon and Nong-O Hama to sharpen his technical “Art of Eight Limbs”.

Climaco, meanwhile, viewed Ghazali as the perfect high-profile scalp to propel him back toward the top of the rankings.

With the foot injury to Climaco, the flyweight division remains in a state of flux.

The match carried significance beyond the division standings, bringing together two fighters shaped by shared bicultural backgrounds.

Johan, 19, was born in Kuala Lumpur to a Malaysian father and an American mother and moved to Sarawak at the age of 10.

He began training at Rentap Muaythai Gym before rising rapidly on the ONE Championship circuit.

After a breakout 16-second knockout at ONE Friday Fights 6 in 2023, he secured a US$100,000 contract at just 16 and most recently returned to winning form with a first-round knockout of Zakaria El Jamari at ONE Fight Night 35.

Climaco was raised in Fremont, California, to parents from Cebu, Philippines, and developed his career through the American Kickboxing Academy.

After overcoming a career-threatening knee injury, he earned his place in ONE Championship via the Road to ONE: America tournament and impressed on debut with a first-round knockout of Josue Cruz.

ONE Championship has not yet announced if the bout between Climaco and Ghazali will be rescheduled for a later date or if Johan will receive a replacement opponent.

For now, the lights at Lumpinee will still shine bright for ONE Fight Night 39, headlined by the bantamweight war between Rambolek and Abdulla Dayakaev, but the absence of the Ghazali-Climaco firestorm leaves a notable void in the evening’s festivities.