What to Know
- Fans packed Detroit’s Fox Theatre for the Salita Promotions and G2G Promotions event in association with Wynn Records Saturday for a night of boxing at the 100-year-old theatre.
- In the main event, heavyweight contender Brandon Moore outworked former title challenger Bryant Jennings for a unanimous decision
- San Diego cousins Jonny Mansour and Julius Ballot scored wins for their many Chaldean fans in attendance.
Salita Promotions scored its second consecutive packed house in August with 3,000 paid attendees at the historic Fox Theatre for the Salita Promotions and G2G Promotions event, in association with Wynn Records. Fans enjoyed a full night of boxing featuring a heavyweight main event and the appearance of San Diego-based cousins Jonny Mansour and Julius Ballo, who are developing a fan base among their Chaldean community.
“It’s been a great month for us, along with Wynn Records, here in Detroit with G2G Promotions, Jonny and JuJu, and in Atlanta with Claressa,” said Dmitriy Salita, President of Salita Promotions. “We were able to put on two shows for capacity audiences in less than two weeks in two great American cities. We’ve been working to build Detroit back into a major hub for world-class boxing, and tonight we proved that it is truly back.”
Brandon Moore Outworks Bryant Jennings
In the evening’s main event, ranked heavyweight contender Brandon Moore of Lakeland, Florida outworked former world title challenger Bryant Jennings of Delaware, earning a unanimous decision victory with scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 98-92.
Moore (20-1, 10 KOs) was the more active fighter from the opening bell, jabbing to keep 41-year-old Jennings at range. Jennings was looking to land one big punch but never found the opportunity. Moore continued to fight from the outside, leaning on his reach and size advantage to frustrate Jennings.
An accidental headbutt opened a gushing cut under Moore’s left eye in the sixth, followed by another one in the tenth round above the same eye.
Throughout the bout, Jennings struggled to pull the trigger, as Moore pocketed rounds and Jennings appeared to struggle to keep up with the output of his much younger opponent.
Johnny Mansour Scores Second Round TKO
Undefeated lightweight and San Diego-based prospect Jonny Mansour thrilled fans with a sensational knockout of Ernest Bustos of Texas in the co-main event.
With the crowd chanting his name as he was walked to the ring by Detroit rap star 42 Dugg, former amateur standout Mansour (8-0, 3 KOs) put on a clinic, flooring Bustos (6-3, 2 KOs) three times en route to a second-round knockout at 1:47 of the round.
Mansour dropped Bustos with a flush left hook to the chin at the end of the first round. Bustos was slow to get up, barely beating the count. Mansour kept the pressure in the second, dropping Bustos again with a clean body shot midway through the round. Bustos got to his feet, and Mansour landed a right-left combination followed by a right hand to the body, dropping his opponent for the third and final time as the referee waved off the fight.
Mansour thanked all his fans. “This fight goes out to all my people in Detroit. I promised my mother that one day I would be a world champion, and tonight I am one step closer to that promise. I might have to move to Detroit. I will be back.
“That was an 11 out of 10 performance tonight,” added Mansour. “Yesterday (Bustos) tried to say I wasn’t ‘about that life,’ but I’ve been putting in work since I was eight years old. I don’t need to run my mouth because my hands speak for themselves. I wanted the knockout, and when I told him to get back up, he didn’t want any more of it.”
Julius Ballo Pitches Shutout
Mansour’s cousin, undefeated super featherweight prospect and former amateur standout Julius “JuJu” Ballo won a shutout unanimous decision over Julian Gomez-Clemons in front of the dedicated Chaldean fans at the Fox Theatre. All three judges scored the fight 60-54.
Ballo (4-0, 1 KOs) controlled the distance, fighting at range while moving inside to pick apart Gomez-Clemons despite a significant size and reach disadvantage. Ballo did his best work landing sharp jabs and power hooks from distance, tiring his opponent with his movement and footwork.
The 23-year-old improved as the fight went on, landing his sharpest punch of the fight in the final round with a left hook to Gomez-Clemons’ (2-2, 2 KOs) head that had the crowd jump to their feet.
“How’re all my Habibis doing tonight?” asked Ballo. “I feel great. I’m 4 and 0, and I wanted to go for the knockout. The knockout didn’t come my way this time, but man, I felt great. I showcased my skills in front of a great Detroit audience.”
“I’m putting the 126-pound division on notice,” warned Ballo. “This isn’t even my best yet. This goes out to all my Chaldeans in the house. I proved once again why you can’t sleep on my skills. That was a solid 8.5 performance against a really tough competitor.
“I wanted to get the knockout, but he wasn’t a pushover. I controlled the range, barely got touched all night, and got some great learning rounds in while taking care of business.”
Undercard Results from Detroit
Undefeated Flint heavyweight Sardius Simmons (10-0, 6 KOs) scored a highlight-reel second-round TKO of Detrailous Webster of Courtland, Mississippi (9-6, 5 KOs). Webster hurt Simmons badly in the second, sending him stumbling back into the ropes. Simmons didn’t let off the gas, landing a flush right hook that sent Webster tumbling back into the ropes of the neutral corner. With blood gushing from his nose, the referee stopped the fight at 1:55.
Michigan favorite and SuperBad Boxing Gym fighter Jasmine Hampton (3-0, 2 KOs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Gloria Munguilla of Los Angeles (8-4). Scores were 80-82, 78-74, 78-74.
Hussam Al Mashadi of Dearborn Heights, Michigan (16-1, 12 KOs) narrowly edged a game Seantorious Martin of Marietta, Georgia (12-2, 7 KOs) via eight-round unanimous decision.
In a matchup of undefeated bantamweight prospects in the opening bout on Wynn Records Network, Richard “Bambito” Fernandez of San Antonio (5-0-1, 3 KOs) and Joshua Moreno (4-0-1, 3 KOs) fought to a split-draw in six rounds. Fernandez trains in San Diego with Mansour and Ballo.
In the final non-televised bout, local favorite and undefeated super lightweight prospect Lance Smith of Detroit (8-0, 5 KOs) won a near-shutout unanimous decision over Marlin Sims of Florida (9-5, 4 KOs) scored 60-54, 60-54, 59-55.
Undefeated super lightweight prospect Savannah Tini of Shelby Township, Michigan (8-0, 2 KOs) won a shutout eight-round unanimous decision victory over veteran Calista Silgado of Colombia (22-21-4, 16 KOs).
In the opening bout of the evening, G2G Promotions undefeated lightweight prospect Sai Maldonado of Green Bay, Wisconsin (3-0, 2 KOs) went the distance for the first time in his career in a four-round unanimous decision over Dmytrko Kruhalskyi of Brooklyn (0-1), spoiling his pro debut.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
