Jojo Ghazali settles the score with Paez by unanimous decision

KUCHING: Johan “Jojo” Ghazali did not leave much room for debate this time.

Back at Lumpinee Stadium with a score to settle, the Sarawak-based fighter turned a previous split-decision defeat to Diego Paez into a unanimous decision win in the flyweight muaythai co-main event of The Inner Circle 35 on Friday (Oct 16).

Their first meeting had gone Paez’s way by the narrowest of margins.

The rematch looked different almost immediately.

Jojo came out compact and patient behind a tight guard, touching Paez with the jab before driving kicks into the body and picking his moments to step in.

Paez answered with a left hook and a sharp knee, but Ghazali was reading the exchanges better and finished the opening round strongly with an elbow as the Colombian-American tried to hold his ground.

The second round was where Jojo really began to take control.

He walked Paez down without rushing, mixed body punches with overhand rights and stayed composed when Paez tried to disrupt the rhythm with a spinning attack.

There was less wasted movement, less chasing.

Just pressure with purpose.

A clean one-two near the end of the round summed up the difference between this fight and the first – Jojo was not simply throwing more, he was choosing his moments better.

Paez tried to pull the fight into the clinch in the final round, but Ghazali broke away and went straight back to working the head and body.

Both fighters traded until the bell, but the sharper work had already been done.

This time, all three judges went Jojo’s way.

The win snapped a two-fight losing streak and improved his professional record to 28-11.