KUALA LUMPUR: Former world No. 1 Muay Thai fighter Saiful Merican is confident that rising star Johan Ghazali Zulfikar has what it takes to become a world champion one day.
Besides being immensely talented, Saiful said Johan, 17, has the right support group behind him which is key for any fighter aspiring to be successful in the sport.
Johan, who defeated Mexican Edgar Tabares with a vicious liver shot on Sunday, has now won five fights in a row in the ONE Championship series.
"He is still very young and can go a long way in the sport as long as he stays motivated, focused and humble," said Saiful, when contacted today.
"In fact, I commented on his (social media) post after he won his first fight (in ONE) and told him that he was a future world champion in the making.
"But he has to take his time and not rush. As we have seen in the past, those who rise too quickly tend to fall quickly as well.
"I think he will be able to reach his full potential in perhaps three or four years.
"I know that Johan comes from a family who have been involved in the sport for a long time. Both his parents fought and so did his siblings.
"He is very fortunate in this sense as he has a strong support group behind him who can help deal with the various aspects of fighting so he can just focus on training.
"If you are on your own, it is quite to tough to deal with the financial aspect, securing sponsors and so on while trying to train.
"Training for a fight, which includes going for camps and nutrition, is expensive." he said.
Saiful, 35, retired from competitive fighting in August after battling injuries over the past few years.
He said he was pleased to see Johan flying the flag for Malaysia.
"I watched Johan after I announced my retirement and I just felt genuinely happy to see him doing so well," added Saiful.
"It felt like passing the baton, I felt proud."
Johan, who was still 16 at the time, signed a lucrative US$100,000 (RM427,000) contract with ONE Championship in October.