“His dad started boxing before all of us,” Mansour said of Ballo’s father, Jack Ballo. “He never really had the support from his parents. He always said, ‘When I have a kid, I’ll have him start boxing.’”
Sure enough, when Julius Ballo came along 19 years ago, Jack wasted no time bringing him to a boxing gym in San Diego.
“My dad actually took me to the gym at just two weeks old … just to smell it,” Ballo said. “He took me there just to be in that environment and soak it all in. I actually started boxing at the age of 3 years old.”
One day during a family outing, Ballo announced that he had to leave for the gym to train. The then 8-year-old Mansour asked to join him, and the rest is history. “I remember this like it was yesterday,” said Mansour, now 22. “I slowly started to fall in love with it. It was just something different. Since then, basically never missed a day.”
Mansour recalled how his parents, both originally from Iraq, resisted at first.
“So, growing up in this culture is different,” Mansour said. “There are no boxers besides me and Julius. So, it was something different. I always say my biggest blessing was having that drive since a young age. This is what I want to do, and I’m going to become the best.
“In my career, there’s been many ups and downs to get to where I am today. In the beginning, my parents always took me to the gym. But their end goal was not me boxing. They didn’t really want me to box. Boxing’s a brutal sport.”
His uncle Jack, who opened Bomber Squad Boxing Academy, where the cousins train, interceded with Mansour’s parents, and he stayed with the sport, as did Ballo.
“Now, my parents support me so much,” Mansour said. “They’re always showing up overseas, as well. It’s a blessing.”
The 5-foot-10-inch Mansour recently moved up from 57 kg., where Ballo also competes, to 63.5 kg. At his first competition, at the 2022 USA Boxing International Invitational in Pueblo, Colorado, Mansour earned a silver medal, his first elite international medal. Ballo matched that performance at 57 kg.
“I feel good at this weight class,” Mansour said. “I feel real comfortable. My speed and skills make up for that extra weight. I know I was so close to that gold medal, as well. I had the skills for it. I just have to believe in it.”
His move up in class meant Mansour and Ballo wouldn’t have to fight each other at 57 kg.
“We didn’t want to collide,” Ballo said. “We had a family meeting, and we (made) the decision to have Jonny go up. It was getting hard for him also to make that (57 kg.) weight class.”
Mansour said he and Ballo have similar boxing styles.
“Early on in our career, yeah, we would spar each other a lot,” Mansour said. “We know each other so well and so much that there’s no point in even sparring each other anymore. We haven’t sparred in a very long time.
“I know when Julius is going to throw a certain punch, and I know how he’s going to do it. And he knows exactly the same thing with me. When we spar each other, it’s literally like a chess match.”
They may not get in the ring together these days, but they continue to motivate each other.
“Nobody pushes each other more than me and Julius push each other,” Mansour said. "If I see Julius to win, I get even hungrier to win. He’s the same way. We continue to grow together. That’s what makes us better. That competition between us is literally what got us where we are.”
Where they are now is on the doorstep of making the U.S. team that will box in Paris two years from now. The cousins’ shared goal is the first U.S. men’s gold medal in the sport since Andre Ward stood atop the podium in 2004 at Athens.
“I promise you this,” said a confident Ballo, “20years later, 2024, Julius Ballo will be bringing one back.”
By Bob Reinert
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