Young Joliet boxer winning awards, wants to pursue nursing

In December Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. of Joliet won the USA Boxing Nationals 2022 for his weight class.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. is only 15, so he hopes to compete for a few more decades. Yet his career goal is nursing, not boxing, and he gives the credit to his mother Valerie Ayertey, who is a nurse, he said.

He hopes to receive his associate degree from Joliet Junior College in May and earn his bachelors by age 18.

“I just always had a love for helping people,” Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said. “I wanted to get into that as a career if I could.”

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr.is quick to add that his sister Naomi Awinongya, 10, is also excelling in gymnastics. He himself began boxing at age 4 and said his father Joseph Awinongya Sr. was his main influence.

“I was just that, being in the gym all the time, I just wanted to try it out a little bit,” Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said.

He did more a little bit. By 2017, Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. had competed 13 times and claimed the 8-9-year-old, 80-pound division title at the Silver Gloves Nationals in Independence, Missouri, outside Kansas City.

“That the one benefit from boxing,” Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said. “If you put the work in, you will see results.”

[ Youth boxing: 'Jo Jo' Awinongya becomes national Silver Gloves champion ]

Like father, like son

Joseph Awinongya Sr. came from Ghana and was a professional boxer. Joseph Awinongya Sr. owned the former Will County Boxing Gym on Scott Street from 2009 to 2013, Joseph Awinongya Sr. said.

According to a 2017 Herald-News story, Joseph Awinongya Sr. was signed to a professional contract by Don King and compiled a 12-9-5 record with three knockouts as a cruiserweight known as “The African Assassin.”

“I had the opportunity to experience a lot of things in the world, in America,” Joseph Awinongya Sr., the primary trainer for his son, said. “I’m very happy in this country.”

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said he takes pride in showing his developed arms to his father and said he feels stronger now that he’s “growing up.”

“I like the change in my body, to see it how much it’s grown over time,” Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said.

Alex Jimenez would agree. Jimenez said he has trained Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr., in speed and conditioning three times a week for two years at Chicago Sports and Fitness in Joliet.

“For his age, he is so mature, I always forget that he’s 15, when I’m speaking with him. He acts a lot more like someone my age,” Jimenez said, adding that he is 22. “His body shows it, too.”

Jimenez is impressed with Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr.’s focus and dedication. He said Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. never complains, no matter what he asks of him.

“I’ve played with a lot of good athletes,” Jimenez said. “Jo Jo is up there with the best of them.”

Education is important, too

But the emphasis on homework, too. Joseph Awinongya Sr. stressed his son’s education comes first. He said Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. is self-motivated and that he only “sits down with him” if Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. is struggling with a concept.

“The boxing – he does that for fun,” Joseph Awinongya Sr. said. “But I think the homework is most important.”

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. isn’t boasting about his exploits in the classroom. And except for a brief mention during class introductions, two of his teachers said Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. never talks about boxing.

Monica Marquez-Nelson, a biology professor at JJC, said she had Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. in her general biology class last summer. She knew from the class introductions that Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. was a boxer, only “14 or 15,″ and hoped to finish his bachelor’s degree by the time he was 18, she said.

That was Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr.’s only mention of boxing.

“It was all biology and he was very engaged, just a really nice young man, just really, really sweet,” Marquez-Nelson said.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. fit right into the class, despite his young age, and “made friends very easily,” she said.

“He was very engaged, very serious,” Marquez-Nelson said. “It’s a lab-heavy course, so he was doing labs every day. He was really involved. He just dove right in and got to work.”

Don Govoni, chemistry professor at JJC and Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr.’s current chemistry teacher, said he was intrigued about Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. boxing since Govoni comes from a family wrestlers.

He’s also like to see Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. fight sometime, he added. But boxing isn’t a classroom topic unless one of Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr.’s classmates brings it up, Govoni said.

“He’s very quiet, almost shy,” Govoni said. “Just the nicest guy, such a gentleman, too.”

Govoni said “it takes a lot of discipline” to commit to rigorous training and junior college. “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said that’s another benefit of boxing.

“Being focused is important,” “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said. “If you’re not focused, you might take one or two punches. When you’re in the ring, you want to make sure you put all your attention in there.”

Govoni is also impressed Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. is heading toward nursing.

“Nurses are special people,” Govoni said. “That’s a tough job that takes compassion, and I think the fact he wants to do that is pretty neat.”

Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said he hopes to partner with a TV station instead of working through a promoter. He is keenly aware that others are watching him and often takes his cues from his father before speaking. He also tries to deflect some attention away from him.

For instance, a video of Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. interviewing Mayor Bob O’Dekirk inside a boxing ring, is posted on Joseph Awinongya Sr.’s Facebook page.

“I try to put a good image on my platform to help those kids also reach their goals,” Joseph “Jo Jo” Awinongya Jr. said.