EL CAJON, Calif. — San Diego County has a large Chaldean community. One of them is boxer Jonny "Magic" Mansour. After a successful amateur career, capped by winning a Golden Gloves national title last year, Jonny will make his professional debut on Saturday, May 18 at Pechanga Arena.
Mansour fights in the lightweight division at 135 pounds. It will be a 4-round fight against a fighter who has 8 professional bouts under his belt.
CBS 8's John Howard caught up with Jonny to get his thoughts about his first professional fight.
John: How excited are you for your first pro fight?
Jonny: Super excited. You know, it's something I've been working for my entire life. I'm excited to put on a show in my hometown.
John: The first time I talked to you, you talked about representing the Chaldean community as a boxer. How is that going, and how is it manifesting itself?
Jonny: Support has been heavy from everybody, but especially the Chaldeans. Shout out to the Chaldeans! They sold out the entire floor in 24 hours.
John: They did?
Jonny: Yeah, it's crazy. So there's gonna be a lot of Chaldeans and a lot of my fans. A lot of supporters.
John: On the lighter side, I checked out some of your Instagram posts. Your trainer didn't look too happy when you weighed in. Were you overweight or something?
Jonny: No, that was a little skit. That was funny. All the boxers understand that when you step on a scale everyone's afraid (of not making weight).
John: Here at CBS8 we believe in fair and equal coverage. What about your opponent? Who is this guy?
Jonny: My opponent, already has pro fights. We're expecting him to bring his "A" game. And I'm excited. I'm gonna definitely bring my "A" Plus game. I have a great amateur pedigree and my opponent you know has eight fights in the pros, but I feel like I'm ready for this and I'm excited.
John: You gave him the credit of having an "A" game but you have your "A" Plus game. So how confident are you that you get a win?
Jonny: I'm always confident. Always faithful. I believe in God, and you know, I work very hard. All I do is come to the gym every single day. Work hard about five, six hours a day. This is my life. I'm fully committed. And I'm ready for it.
John: The other thing on Instagram was promoting your fight in the barber chair. That can be a dangerous thing. If he's got the clippers out, you don't want him to mess with the 'do
Jonny: Oh absolutely. I walked into the barbershop and I asked if he had any availability. He said I'm fully booked. I pulled out the boxing gloves and I suddenly he was all open for me. So I sat down and got a haircut.
John: Jonny, we wish you the best of luck.