Amir Mansour, Past –

Amir Mansour, Past – Present – Future As heavyweight contender Amir Mansour continues to move his career forward, the honors and awards continue to roll in. On Sunday, October 18, Mansour was honored with two Briscoe Awards, which pays tribute to Philadelphia’s past and present ring greats, at Xfinity Live in South Philadelphia. Mansour, who trains at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym in Philadelphia, and former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham earned “Fight of the Year” honors for their epic 2014 heavyweight battle in Philadelphia. On April 4 at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, Mansour sent Cunningham to the canvas twice in the fifth round while Cunningham rallied to score a knockdown of his own in the 10th and earn a close unanimous-decision win. Seven months later, Mansour, who grew up in Penns Grove, NJ, delivered a “Knockout of the Year” performance with a devastating seventh-round KO over Fred Kassi. Not only did it earn him a second Briscoe Award, but Sports Illustrated also named it the “Knockout of the Year.” In front of his hometown fans, Mansour was very proud to be honored at the Briscoe Awards. “It means a lot coming from a small town in South Jersey to win this award,” said Mansour during an interview with Marc Abrams of Abramsboxing.com. “Philadelphia has always been the mecca of boxing in the tri-state area and throughout the country. You know, to come up in Philly training with these guys and being recognized as just as good as these guys, if not better, as one of the best Philly fighters, it’s a blessing.” This year on October 13, in front of another nationally televised audience, Mansour (22-1-1, 16 KOs) battled undefeated Gerald Washington (16-0-1, 11 KOs) to a 10-round draw. Although Mansour was disappointed with his performance, he proved to the fans he has a fan-friendly style. It was evident on social media that fans believed Mansour pulled off the win, and although the score cards told another story, fans voiced their opinions praising the aggressive come-forward fighting style that Mansour brought to the fight. “You can’t win every single round, but I am really disappointed in myself because I shouldn’t have given him one round,” said Mansour. “I introduced him to a whole other world with this sport. I knew that going into this fight I was the best fighter that he ever stood in front of, so I knew that I was going to take him somewhere that he never was before and make him uncomfortable. I have to take my hat off to the guy, he did come to fight and he gave it his best shot, and he had the heart to get in there with me, which is something that a lot of these guys don’t have.” Certainly the fans enjoyed Mansour’s performance and look forward to seeing him back in the ring very soon. “Hopefully we can do some more fighting with PBC (Premier Boxing Champions),” said Mansour. “(Promoter) Al Haymon is doing a wonderful thing for this sport. He is keeping everyone busy. He is keeping boxing in front of the American people. It is a blessing to have a man like that to come in and do what he is doing. “I wouldn’t mind fighting anyone. I will fight anybody. All I know is that I want to get back in there as soon as possible and stay busy, hopefully against a big name.”.

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