Boxing trainer Julian Chua believes that junior middleweight Jordan Panthen is going to have a big 2025.
Panthen is fighting DeAundre Pettus on Thursday night’s card at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. The card is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, and will stream on DAZN.
Panthen signed with Golden Boy Promotions in 2024. Panthen, a 28-year-old who now trains in Southern California with Chua, took a hiatus from boxing, but returned in 2021 to win the 2020 USA Boxing Nationals (which were held in 2021 due to COVID-19) and USA National Golden Gloves. Panthen hadn’t fought in the nationals since 2014 before reentering in 2021. Chua believes that Panthen is two to three fights away from fighting an undefeated fighter.
“I have all the faith in the world in Jordan,” Chua said. “He has a throwback style.”
What makes Panthen so different? Chua believes that Panthen, who holds a record of 10-0 (9 KOs), and turned pro in August 2022, has the rarest quality of all in a professional boxer.
“He’s got everything you can’t teach,” Chua said, noting that Panthen had taken a long break from boxing before coming back and winning at the national level.
Chua puts pressure on himself to do his job as a coach. Chua during a phone conversation explained that he has videos showing how Panthen’s movement has changed and how he is more balanced with his weight distribution and balance. Panthen is currently on a four-fight win streak as he heads into to his upcoming fight. In his last fight in December 2024, he knocked out Sergio Nahuel Lopez in two rounds. He fought at middleweight deliberately knowing that he’d fight again in January at junior middleweight.
Pettus recently lost a close unanimous decision to Austin Deanda on a Top Rank undercard. Pettus, 30, from Columbia, South Carolina, holds a record of 12-3 (7 KOs). The bout marks both fighters first foray into 10-round fights. This is especially significant for Panthen who is aiming to take high-profile match-ups as soon as possible.
“He’s gotten a lot more creative with how he puts combinations together,” Chua said. “I’m high on Jordan. I can’t wait to see what happens with him.”
Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.
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