All you need to know about Junior Younan, the boxer who starred at the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren event
Junior Younan just defeated Ecuador's Jeyson Minda in the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren card. Although he has an unblemished record, not much is known about the super-middleweight from Brooklyn, New York.
Trained by his father, Sherif Younan, 'The Young God' was introduced to boxing early in his life. As a two-year-old he celebrated his birthday at Gleason’s Gym in New York City, blowing out candles on a cake with boxing gloves on it. At four, he crawled out of a baby carriage, found his father’s headgear near the ring, put it on his head sideways and peered through the earhole.
Before turning pro in 2013, Junior Younan had won essentially every Junior Olympic boxing title there was in America, including the 2011 National Junior Olympic championship. He was also a nine-time Junior Metro champion, eight-time New York State Silver Gloves champion, five-time Regional Silver Gloves champion, four-time National Silver Gloves champion, three-time Ringside World champion, three-time National PAL champion and a two-time National Junior Golden Gloves champion.
Junior Younan dominated Jeyson Minda
Junior Younan hadn't fought in two years when he made his return to the ring against Jeyson Minda. However, the layoff hardly seemed to matter as Younan was able to maintain his undefeated streak with a unanimous decison victory, 78-71 on all three cards after eight rounds of action.
Junior Younan looked to be in complete control of the fight, barring a few flurries from Minda in the fifth and sixth rounds. While Younan might have been out of action, he was putting in hard work in the gym. Opening up about the grind during the hiatus, Junior Younan said:
“It wasn’t good spending so much time out of the ring. It’s obviously not what I needed at this point in my career, however, I’m more determined than ever to make up for lost time when I get back in the ring."
“I’ve maintained my focus when I haven’t had a date. I’m always in the gym with my father Sherif Younan and I always get great work with the likes of Marcus Browne in Staten Island, so I’ve always had to stay in shape and stay ready. We work hard in the gym so if you’re not in shape, you get found out quickly."