LOS ANGELES – Fighters who have opened themselves up to social-media platforms have confronted all that comes with the territory of the exposure.
For Jonny Mansour, revealing his fighting talent to the masses was accompanied by the unforeseen turn of navigating his mother Bushra’s four-year battle with colon cancer that ultimately claimed her life on May 24 – two days after San Diego’s Mansour fought in a robe stitched with the words, “Mom Is My Hero.”
Unbeaten lightweight Mansour will return to the ring for the first time since his mother’s death Saturday night at Ace Mission Studios on PPV.COM, facing Mexico’s Marco Antonio Juarez Rodriguez in the co-main event of a card headlined by WBC cruiserweight titleholder Badou Jack’s rematch versus former belt holder Noel Mikaelian.
“I’ve just been trying to align mentally and spiritually with God and family and looking for answers,” Mansour told BoxingScene this week following a public workout. “I realized the best thing I can do is keep a smile on my face and keep working hard.”
Mansour, 25, and his Top Rank-promoted first cousin Juju Ballo, 22, have worked since the COVID era to build up their social-media presence, drawing more than three million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok – shattering the audience of three-division champion Jack, 42.
“It was a good business opportunity that we saw, so my dad said, ‘Let’s start posting.’” Juju Ballo said. “At the beginning, it was stupid content, but that’s all right … and now we’re blessed to have these followers across all platforms. Workouts, shadow boxing, people enjoy seeing my [hand] speed. I’ll do some exotic workouts for fun. Then I started fighting, winning and doing well, and it’s taken off like a rocket ship.”
The attention did more than display the cousins’ talents while training under another influencer, Ann Najjar, known as @mittqueen on Instagram.
“People came in [to watch] and respected my skill set,” said Mansour, who resides in the East County portion of San Diego. “I knew I wanted to be a professional and knew I needed a social-media presence. They can see me by my posting. Some of the videos went viral as people began noticing my talent.
“And it’d be hard to be getting these opportunities and fights if we hadn’t done this.”
His story, however, has been touched by the hardest of realities, watching cancer’s insidious attack on the woman who loved him most.
“We tried everything we could to keep battling and fighting. No expense was spared, and we even reached outside the country [for treatment], did everything we could,” said Mansour’s aunt and Juju’s mother, May Ballo, whose husband, Jack, a successful service station owner in San Diego County, requested not to be interviewed for this story due to the ongoing pain of his sister’s loss.
Mansour, too, needed time away, huddling with family and taking a break from fighting.
“I really was in a dark place at one point,” Mansour said. “Having a strong family behind me, all of them staying together, staying strong, with my little sister [Mikayla], who reminds me of my mom … she took over.
“She’s only 14, but she’s operating and moving around like she’s grown, and has been strong through it all. Seeing that from her at 14 inspired me to be strong for her and the family. And I’ve realized through this, I’m not the only one going through this.
“A lot of people lose a parent, a brother, a sister. … For me to sit back and give up on something that made my family proud would be selfish. So I’ve been open to the public about it.
“A million thoughts go through my mind every single day, but you know what? The one that sticks with me is to make her proud and stay strong for the family.”
Bushra Mansour and her husband were originally tentative about Jonny choosing boxing as a profession.
The family came to the US before his birth, along with many Chaldean Christians who departed a Muslim-controlled section of Iraq, and Jonny said he felt the cultural tug to become “a doctor, engineer or business leader,” but he couldn’t deny his enjoyment and success in boxing.
“At the beginning, you know, boxing is the hurt business and she’s seeing people getting cut, hurt, bleeding,” Mansour said. “But then I showed her that I’m working hard to be the best, and that I have the skills to be the best, and as the years went on and I made the national team, my mother and father realized I had worked so hard.
“It was, ‘We support you now, son,’ and boxing became my mom’s pride and joy. She loved it. This fight has been so different because I would [previously] be able to say, ‘Mom, I’m fighting again,’ and she would say so excitedly, ’Oh my gosh, I’m going to tell all my friends!’
“She was so proud. And I’m going to continue to make her proud.”
The familial bond extends far beyond Mansour and Ballo, to their surrounding family and the Chaldean community that is taking pride in the cousins’ rapid ascent.
Ballo’s pro debut came in late July at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and May Ballo said the occasion struck the family as an opportunity to hold Bushra near to their heart while moving on toward the life that beckons.
“That brought back a little of the happiness to us, was something that kept our mind off of it,” May Ballo said. “Boxing helped the boys – to get back to the gym and take them to something they so enjoyed.”
Mansour, off to a 5-0 start, said he aspires to be sharp against Rodriguez, 12-9-3 (5 KOs), and aim for a busy 2026 – with as many as six bouts.
“For me, choosing such a hard sport was different, but it’s something I’m very passionate about,” he said. “I train out of El Cajon [California] and I have a lot of support from the East County and the Chaldeans there, from Middle Easterners and the entire Middle East. It’s very sweet having that support.”
Earlier this fall, Mansour trekked to Iraq to tour his family’s home country – for comfort and perspective.
“Seeing how they grew up shows me why they are the way they are today – it’s rough out there, not easy,” Mansour said. “I’m here now, counting my blessings, fighting for the family and representing all of us.”
Ballo will also fight on the pay-per-view portion of the card.
“We were already close. This made us closer. Not everyone is blessed to be around family. We are. And it’s so important to have that foundation,” Juju Ballo said. “Jonny’s doing well, we’re doing well and we’re going to carry her name wherever we go.”
In August, Mansour commemorated his mother’s birthday on Instagram, writing, “It’s been very hard without you, but I’m safe to say that I have the greatest angel protecting me … I tear up every time I even think about you. But … I promise to show the world the man that you raised me to be. Everything I do is for you, to honor you and fight for you the same way that you fought for us. Until we meet again.”
A powerful message to all if there ever was one.
“I get a lot of mixed reviews on social media – from people saying I’m the best boxer they’ve seen and their favorite to people saying I’m the worst boxer in the world,” Mansour said. “I don’t pay attention to the negative. I focus on being the best I can be. We’re only here temporarily, so the only thing I can do is become 1 per cent better every single day.
“It’s a family business, and we’ve got a lot of family behind us.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
