'The new face of boxing': Brian Norman Jr. hell-bent on becoming more than just welterweight king
Brian Norman Jr. is the new ruler in town with a point still to prove.
With reports suggesting Jaron "Boots" Ennis is vacating the IBF and WBA welterweight world championships to move to super welterweight, Norman is set to become the de facto No. 1 at 147 pounds. It's a familiar feeling for the 24-year-old — he never got to win his WBO world title in the ring, and now Ennis' welterweight exit could elevate him to the best in the division without a fight too.
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The manner in which Norman has won his recent bouts, though, ensured that he long felt like the king of the weight class, regardless. And so he won't even entertain any arguments that he's not a real champion in a division that has produced modern-day greats from Felix Trinidad to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
'We all knew Terence Crawford was not going to fight at 147 ever again after he beat Errol Spence,' Norman told Uncrowned ahead of his return to the ring Thursday against 23-year-old contender Jin Sasaki in Tokyo, Japan. It's a bold move for Norman as he travels the farthest he ever has for a fight, to defend his strap against one of Japan's best boxers in the heart of enemy territory.
'It wasn't like I even had the opportunity to fight Crawford,' Norman said. 'I did beat the champion, necessarily speaking, as Giovani Santillan was the No. 1 [welterweight]. And it was in his hometown. I wasn't even supposed to win that fight. And we've seen what happened.'
What Norman showed us in that May 2024 showcase was a blood-and-guts thrashing ahead of a fight-finishing 10th-round uppercut in a statement win.
Though Norman had been grinding for years, the result — and performance — created an overnight sensation in boxing. 'It was a highlight knockout that got everybody buzzing. I had all his blood on me,' he said. 'It looked very spectacular.
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'And if that wasn't enough — a champion is not a real champion until they defend their belt.'
Norman did just that against Derrieck Cuevas in March. 'Another spectacular knockout,' he said of his thumping, third-round knockout win that beat the spirit out of the Puerto Rican.
'I absolutely do feel like a champion.'
Norman puts his WBO welterweight world title on the line once again atop an Ohashi Promotions event Thursday at the Ota-City General Gymnasium. And, though he respects his opponent's skill level, Norman expects Sasaki to fall like so many others he's fought. 'Nobody can stand up to my power,' he said.
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Norman feels victory over Sasaki is a foregone conclusion as he'll 'continue catching bodies and making a name for myself' not just at welterweight, but in boxing. He envisions becoming a household name — an athlete synonymous with their sport, like Simone Biles in gymnastics, Shohei Ohtani in baseball, or Rory McIlroy in golf.
'I'm finna be the new face of boxing,' he said. 'The new 'that guy.' Like, when you think about basketball and you think of Michael Jordan — for this generation, that's exactly what I'm about to be. The king of it all.'
All kings need adversaries, though. Every great fighter needs the opponents, and rivalries, that bring out the greatness in them. They need those star-making performances from the grandest of stages. And so an all-American showdown against Ennis would have been ideal. Ennis, a thunderous puncher, was considered a boogieman at the weight class until, of course, Norman came along and a new boogieman was born.
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Yet while Ennis would be the legacy fight for Norman, there still remains another star-making fight at 147 pounds — a unification against the winner of July 19's controversial blockbuster between the established champion Mario Barrios and the returning legend Manny Pacquiao.
It's a fight Norman covets because the WBC title is on the line, and he's always dreamed of winning the green and gold belt so he can join the pantheon of greats who have worn it before, like his idols Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran, among others.
Norman wants that fight 'no matter who wins' at the MGM Grand Garden Arena when Barrios and Pacquiao come to blows. Pacquiao is 'a legend for a reason,' he said. 'So anything is possible.'
A southern gent outside the ropes yet a brutal assassin within it, Norman is a throwback. He's a throwback to an age when fighters sought the best fights when they made sense, rather than after a period of over-marination. And so the fight he appears to want above all others remains Ennis, regardless of whether it takes place at 147 pounds or 154. 'Either/or is fine with me,' he said. 'I'm still right here.'
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Norman added: 'I do find it funny that [Ennis' promoter] Eddie Hearn said he would send us a contract, but only if I signed a contract before this fight I got coming up.'
Norman vs. Ennis 'was going to be after this one,' he said, 'but the week of this fight, they said, 'We're moving up.'
'We still could have fought after this one,' Norman finished, happy to take Ennis on later this year. 'So I don't see why we couldn't have done that. We still can right now.'
First, Norman has to fight Sasaki in an event that kicks off at 1:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+. Follow live coverage of the action early Thursday morning on Uncrowned.
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