Jonny Mansour fights without a promoter. At 7-0, he has made himself a social-media heavyweight, arranging his own interviews and personally scouting his fight locations.
In other words, the San Diego fighter is a man on a mission.
Not only is Mansour, 26, determined to fulfill the promise to his late mother that he’ll become a world champion, he is dedicated to uplifting the spirits of his Iraqi Chaldean community and providing inspiration to all who stop to take notice of his ascending career.
Saturday night at Detroit’s Fox Theater, Mansour meets unbeaten Richard Segura 7-0-1 on a Wynn Records, Dmitriy Salita-promoted card headlined by former heavyweight title challenger Bryant Jennings.
“To become the best, you’ve got to fight the best,” Mansour told BoxingScene recently. “I’m climbing the ladder. You don’t see many 7-0 guys selling out venues, fighting unbeaten fighters, especially without a promoter.
“I’m betting on myself, building a brand because I believe in myself. I’m getting better and the better the opposition, the better I fight. It’s not cheap, but it’s doing a lot – driving hope to the younger generation to follow their dreams, and we’re turning this into a big event.”
Mansour and his cousin, Juju Ballo, are coming off a strong ticket-selling showing at Frontwave Arena in Northern San Diego County in April, estimating that more than 3,000 Chaldeans, mostly from East San Diego County, attended.
“They shelled out for me,” Mansour said. “I’ve been getting so many fulfilling, heartwarming messages from the [Chaldean] community out there in Detroit, I had the [indspiration] to bring this to reality, to rent out the Fox Theater. I’m excited to fight. It’s for my people in Detroit.”
Mansour said he and Gallo are the only two active Chaldean boxers in the U.S., providing an opportunity to explain the background of those who immigrated here, making him and others first-generation Americans.
“I come from a very successful community. A lot of us start off with gas stations, liquor stores, real estate, markets, [commercial] properties,” Mansour said. “[Mansour and Ballo are] determined to reach the highest level of professional boxing. We’re cutting through some trees, carving out our own path. I still work at the family businesses, but I decided to chase my dreams. God is using me and my platform to bring everyone together.”
Mansour has traveled to Iraq within the last year, and said he’s so proud of the lives his family and neighbors have made in the U.S.,he plans tobox for Iraq at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Let me tell you why the Iraqi community is like this: I visited the motherland six months ago and saw where all the villagers come from, from houses built on rocks, into a mountain,” Mansour said.
“Everything was so different out there. There’s not much to do, it’s very boring, no real opportunities – compared to America. It keeps everyone hungry. When you come from that hard reality, you take advantage of every opportunity. That’s what my people did: there’s 150,000 Chaldeans in San Diego, 200,000 in Detroit. It’s a loving, welcoming, successful community.”
Ballo’s father owns several gas stations in San Diego County, and Mansour hails from an upper-middle-class family, too.
“We grew up not having to box and we chose the hardest sport in the world,” Mansour said. “Growing up not having to do this, there was something deep down in our hearts: a passion for the sport of boxing.
“Growing up with wealth and support, we didn’t have to go down this path of choosing this tough lifestyle, but all tough beginnings come with great results. I always saw the vision.I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Since 8, seeing my peers quit, I always told myself I want to make my younger self proud.”
Mansour has yet to lose any of his 30 pro career rounds, knocking out two, as he and similarly positive Ballo have drawn nearly 1 million combined Instagram followers, and his website, jonnymansour.com, is a thriving destination.
“It’s not just about boxing. Boxing is a platform to tell my story and bring people together,” Mansour said. “I made [the] promise to my [cancer-stricken] mother before she passed that I would become a world champion, and this is the pathway I’m on – bringing people together, bringing that joy and happiness for the Iraqi community and my American roots. I want to become the best that I can be.”
Mansour may soon ultimately choose to unite with a promoter, dishing praise on both Zuffa Boxing and the consolidation of major promoters whose fights are streamed by DAZN.
“Zuffa is doing great things. It has all the money with Paramount and the Saudis. All the promoters aligning with DAZN, I love it. Boxing needs unity, one landing page,” Mansour said.
“I’m just wanting to be the best, letting God bless me with the rest.”
