Jonny Mansour exclusive: ‘I’m taking the risk of promoting my own show’

Jonny Mansour (6-0, 2 KOs) will soon take on William King (6-3-2, 3 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight contest.

Their bout headlines an April 18 co-promotion between Frontwave Arena and G2G Promotions at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, CA. Tickets for the event are currently available on AXS.com. Broadcast details are expected to be announced in due course.

Mansour spoke to Big Fight Weekend in the weeks leading up to fight against King. Below is some of what he had to say.

Jonny Mansour speaks to Big Fight Weekend in exclusive interview

Jonny Mansour on headlining and promoting a boxing card

G2G Promotions is a company founded by Mansour alongside his first cousin Julius Ballo. A press release describes the company as wanting to “deliver electrifying, high-level boxing events that ignite passion for the sport and inspire fans of every generation.” Mansour says that being the lead promoter for a card that he fights on comes from a desire to bring boxing events close to his hometown of San Diego.

“I’ve had difficulty working with some promoters trying to put boxing on in San Diego,” he says. “There’s not many fights here that happen throughout the year. My goal is to fight in front of my hometown friends and family. So, I’m taking the risk of promoting my own show.”

“So far it’s going great. I’ve had a lot of support behind it. A lot of sponsors supported the show. A lot of fans purchasing tickets. I’m practically betting on myself. I’ve been talking to promoters to do this for a long time and there was people doing it and pulling out. Now, doing it myself along with my cousin JuJu [Ballo], my uncle Jack, and along with all the support that we have behind us to bring boxing back to San Diego.”

Mansour is looking to do multiple fight cards in San Diego County in the long run. The upcoming event on April 18 is simply the first.

“Absolutely [looking to do more events in the future]. This show is going to be called SD Fight Night and this is the first big show that we are hosting. The last one was at Sycuan Casino where I brought Overtime to co-promote the show with me. This time we’re going a lot bigger from 1,200 people to potentially 4,000 to 5,000 people in attendance. This is the first big one. SD Fight Night 1. Hopefully we’ll make a series out of this. I’m a fighter and I just want to stay active. Fighting in my hometown means everything to me. So this is it.”

Jonny Mansour on his opponent and training

King began his professional boxing career in 2021 and has fought a total of 11 times since. Mansour’s priority for his seventh professional bout was a step-up opponent over eight rounds.

“Honestly, I am the promoter of the show, but I’m not picking who I’m fighting. We have a team that’s working on that. I asked for a good opponent. I asked for an eight-round fight. This is going to be my first eight-round fight. I asked for a step-up. When I asked for a step-up fight they put William King on my table. I’ve been getting a lot messages, dms about this guy. I’ve never heard of him [before]. Seen a little footage on him and he’s good. He’s sharp, he’s strong. But I’m willing to put him to the test and he was put on my table. So now it’s time to fight.”

When asked about whether training for King is different from other camps he has had, Mansour emphasizes that he is always training.

“Boxing is not a seasonal sport. It’s an all-year sport. For me, I don’t like taking time off. I’m always in the gym. I’m always training. I’m always working hard…With this fight being an eight-round fight, I’ve started to spar 10 rounds, sometimes 12 rounds inside the gym to get ready for this fight. Just a little bit different. Few changes this fight. But at the end of the day, it’s just another fight, another day in the office.”

Goals for 2026

The fight against King will be his first of 2026, but Mansour already has plans for the remainder of the year.

“I have a lot of goals for myself this year. My goal is to be 10-0 by the end of the year. My goal is to fight at least two times in my hometown of San Diego and my goal is also to fight in Michigan. I was just in Michigan a few weeks ago and I have a lot of friends and family, a lot of love and support out there from the Chaldean community. To be honest, fighting in regions that I have a lot of support in and building the markets, investing into the markets that people want to see me fight in [is what I want to do]. So my full focus is on winning, but also winning in the right direction.”