When 22-year-old Julius Ballo steps through the ropes at Madison Square Garden’s Theater on July 26, the featherweight prodigy arrives with gold medals in his suitcase and chip-on-shoulder motivation in his heart. Spurned by USA Boxing for the 2023 Pan Am Games - and the Olympic path that followed - Ballo turned the snub into fuel, inking an unconventional co-promotional deal with Top Rank and social-media disruptor Overtime Boxing to turbo-charge both reach and résumé from day one.
The San Diego native is no hype-in-a-hurry; his amateur ledger boasts Junior Pan Am gold (2021), three straight national championships and a 5-0 sweep at last year’s National Golden Gloves. Yet Ballo still bristles at seeing rival Jahmal Harvey wear the “Olympian” tag he felt was his. “I beat everyone they put in front of me - including Harvey - and they still passed me over,” he says. “Now it’s about proving I’m No. 1 the pro way.”
That road begins against unbeaten 19-year-old Brandan Ayala (2-0, 1 KO). Trained since age six by Berlin Kerney and managed by Rap-A-Lot impresario James Prince, Ballo has tweaked his distance-friendly amateur style for the hurt business: sharper body work, heavier planting, same laser timing. Top Rank boss Bob Arum calls him “the entire package,” while Ballo sees himself as a boxing version of Prince-protégé Drake - two big platforms amplifying one global ambition.
The mission is straightforward: dominate, entertain and chase belts sooner rather than later. “Making history and being No. 1 in everything I do - that’s the goal,” Ballo says. First stop: MSG undercard. Next stop: whatever arena holds the top spot he refuses to share.
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Image Credit: USA Boxing