Pro boxing prospect Jonny “Magic” Mansour of La Mesa drew the lion’s share of the sold-out, standing-room only audience at the Sycuan Casino Event Center Saturday for his hometown return.
Overtime OTX Boxing made its first stop of Season 3 in a nationally broadcast event, the first professional boxing card staged at the casino since 2021.
The 24-year-old La Mesa lightweight faced Markus Bowes of Roxboro, North Carolina. Mansour put up his undefeated record of three wins against the 3-7 record of 30-year-old Bowes.
Fans only got to see Mansour perform for one minute and 11 seconds. He drilled Bowes with a right hook to the body for a knockout victory. They didn’t mind, roaring in appreciation for his spectacular victory.
Mansour, a first-generation Chaldean-American, has a devoted following among East County’s significant Chaldean community. El Cajon is home to an estimated 15,000 Chaldeans, making it the second-largest population outside of Iraq.
“I’m fighting at home. So these are not my fans. These are my family. These are my supporters,” said Mansour after the winning performance. “You know, I don’t look at these guys as fans. It’s my family supporters that uplift me to do the best that I could do.”
Mansour acknowledged the importance to him of representing his community through his sport. “Being Middle Eastern, coming from that Middle Eastern heritage, also being born in America as a first generation is a blessing. I carry it deep in my blood, and I’m gonna continue to represent and be a great leader.”
Mansour, who joked that he would fight again next weekend for his fans if he could, says he plans on returning this year. “This will always be my home, and I plan to come back here as often as I can to put on a great show for my family and all my supporters.”
It was Mansour’s first hometown fight since his successful professional debut at Pechanga Arena last May. To date, Mansour hasn’t lost a single round.
In other results from Sycuan:
In the main event, challenger Jeremy Hill of New Orleans (22-3-1, 13 KOs) scored an upset victory over the favored Maliek “Mayhem” Montgomery of Macon, Georgia (20-1, 18 KOs), handing Montgomery his first professional defeat.
Montgomery had failed to make the 135-pound super featherweight limit, blaming illness during training. Hill fought just 42 days ago and was in remarkable condition, and his work paid off with a successful performance based on his exceptional footwork and hand speed.
The Sycuan crowd cheered in appreciation for Hill’s efforts when the winning scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 were announced.
Duarte native Kurt Scoby, now based in Pennsylvania (16-1, 14 KOs), added a knockout win on his record against Cesar Villarraga of Colombia (11-12-1, 5 KOs).
The power punching lightweight Scoby wasn’t fooling anyone in his powderpuff pink fur trimmed trunks and shoes. He scored a second-round knockdown with an impressive uppercut and remained patient and determined until he broke down the 39-year-old veteran, forcing Villaraga’s corner to throw in the towel in the fifth round.
“I don’t get paid overtime, I get paid BY Overtime,” smiled Scoby.
Donte Layne of Long Island, New York (7-0, 6 KOs) heard the final bell for the first time as a professional, fighting all six scheduled rounds against Malik Calhoun of Texas (3-3-1, 2 KOs) in their super midweight fight. Layne was the clear winner with scorecards in his favor of 59-55, 58-56 and 58-56.
In the opening fight, bantamweight Richard Fernandez Jr. of San Antonio, Texas (3-0, 2 KO) needed just under two minutes of the first round to take down Garret Palmer of Michigan (0-1) in their bantamweight division fight.
Fernandez landed 20 punches, and Palmer just four, in the brief fight.
