It started as a calculated networking campaign, but grew into a full-blown obsession that follows him to Thailand. There he trains under ONE world featherweight kickboxing champion Superbon.
He rents some clubs on the weekend and sneaks away from camp alone. He also spends a few hours on the course with his phone turned off and his mind clear. For a fighter known for his relentless pressing and devastating elbows, this is an unlikely reset, but one Ghazali swears by.
The sport captivated him almost immediately, from the moment he accepted a last-minute invitation to go on an informal tour with a business associate. What he expected to be a relaxing afternoon turned out to be a revelation about how difficult the game actually is.
“I started playing golf because 95 percent of successful people play golf, and all the people I want to be connected to play it too,” Ghazali says. “So the first time I was going to meet this guy and he was playing golf that day, and I said why not? Let’s go play golf. And then I tried it and I really fell in love with it. I really love the sport.”
Johan Ghazali finds mental clarity on the course between Muay Thai camps
Golf has the ability to humble even the most competitive athletes, and Ghazali is no exception. He walked onto the course expecting an easy afternoon. But he walked away with a new respect for a sport he had previously written off as something for older, slower people.
The reality of aligning your head, body, swing, face and focus in one fluid motion – under no pressure but your own expectations – hit harder than he expected.
But beyond the challenge, Ghazali has found a mental advantage that feeds right back into his fight game. The ability to zoom in completely, block everything from the outside and trust the process reflects exactly what elite Muay Thai demands in the ring.
He sees the two disciplines as complementary. His Muay Thai training builds the physical strength that powers his swing. Golf sharpens the mental clarity he brings to any combat camp. It’s a two-way exchange that the teenager has fully embraced, and one he plans to carry into the next chapter of his career long after the battle lights have gone out.
“Some days you play like Tiger Woods, the next day you have a bad day that you even regret,” Ghazali said. “But I still enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll do Muay Thai when I’m much older. But golf is like a muscle memory sport. So of course you can play it for a lot longer.”
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