SAN DIEGO — Jonny Mansour made the San Diego hometown fans happy on Saturday night, making his professional boxing debut with a resounding win at Pechanga Arena. The fight was in the lightweight division at 135 pounds against a fighter who already had 8 professional bouts under his belt.
Mansour's nickname is Magic, which shows in his footwork and flare.
"You know, I thank God for this victory," Mansour said. "Thank you to my team my camp for preparing me and it's the first of many."
Mansour is one of only two current pro fighters of Chaldean ancestry. His cousin is the other.
The fans from East County were out in force Saturday night. "All the fans from the Middle East community support me very heavily," Mansour said. "I want to build more faith and inspire the younger generation of the Middle East to come behind me [and] start boxing."
Mansour's pro debut comes after a decorated amateur career which he left as the #1-ranked Amateur at 132 pounds.
"I came into the sport know what method you know so this is how you're going to start everything in life. You're gonna start off you know, no from scratch, it takes a lot of hard work you know everyone's gonna ask you why you wake up early while you sleep early. Why do you avoid parties? But at the end of the day when you went in under the bright lights everyone's gonna ask you how."
Boxing analysts on Saturday's fight shared positive feedback for Mansour during the broadcast. "He's a great spot for his first professional fight. He lands crisp combinations to the head and body and has some nice little setups off his back foot. Beautiful."
WATCH: Chaldean from San Diego to make pro boxing debut