Elon “El Leon” de Jesus came home to New York on Friday night and delivered. Madison Square Garden, Infosys Theater, eight rounds, one direction. Unanimous decision over Connor Adaway, with scores of 80-71, 78-73 and 78-73.

The win pushed de Jesus to 12-1-2 with 8 knockouts, per BoxRec, and extended his unbeaten run to eight straight. The super bantamweight has been waiting for a stage like this one, and when he got it, he passed the test.

The Making of a New York Prospect

De Jesus grew up in Dunkirk, the small city on Lake Erie in western New York where he built his amateur résumé. In 2017, he represented the region at the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in Lafayette, Louisiana, a tournament whose alumni list runs through Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather, per the Observer-Today. He fought at 123 pounds and won his opening bout before bowing out to eventual finalist Rasheen Brown. He then went on to fight and win in the NY Ringmasters Golden Gloves tournament where he first met trainer Jose Guzman.

De Jesus turned professional in December 2020 with a four-round TKO of Rigo Cruz Cebreros and started stringing wins together under trainer Guzman, the voice in his corner who has been with him since the start of his pro career. The Guzman relationship, as de Jesus tells it, started at the Garden.

“MSG was where I first met my coach Jose Guzman,” de Jesus said. “I went to fight at MSG my first time in the amateurs with no coach. I didn’t have any coach at all. The one who was running it, Sonya Lamonakis, she gave me a coach, and I didn’t know who it was until I got to the locker rooms. That was Jose Guzman. So for me, fighting there Friday was a full-circle moment for both of us. We said it like this, this is just continued from the amateurs. So fighting MSG was big for me and him together. We just continued the winning streak there, and it was great to be back fighting at MSG again.”

The Run Back

The lone loss on de Jesus’ record came early, a split decision to Rajon Chance on December 25, 2021, in a rematch of a September 2021 majority draw on FS1 that had its own scoring controversy. De Jesus has gone eight straight without a defeat working through steadily rising competition. Miguel Angel Carrizo. John Mark Alimane. A majority draw with Roberto Negrete in June 2023. Then a string of stoppages: Weusi Johnson, Kevin Fernandez, Jesus Segundo Martinez Carrascal (a first-round KO in July 2024).

The step-up came in his last two before Friday. In April 2025, he stopped the veteran Charlie Clemente-Andino inside two. In October, he took an eight-round unanimous decision over 32-fight veteran Belmar Preciado (22-9-1). The Adaway win was the continuation of that trajectory, not a departure from it.

The Team Behind the Run

The unbeaten streak has coincided with a clearer management picture. De Jesus is managed by Adam Glenn of Times Square Boxing, whose roster has helped move the fighter into the kind of matchups and television windows that turn prospects into contenders. Guzman remains in the corner. The continuity of trainer and the addition of experienced management have given de Jesus the infrastructure his résumé now reflects.

“Adam Glenn was with me. We traveled together for my first professional fight with Jose Guzman. We went to Mexico. We just picked up a fight and I wasn’t signed with anyone at that point, and we ended up at another full-circle moment. We connected, and I signed a deal with him after my fifth or sixth professional fight, and he brought me all the way up to here,” de Jesus said. “I’m so grateful for him because he’s open with me and he wants to take my career to the next level, and I’m open for whatever challenges come my way. He knows that. And Jose has been a pleasure. It’s something I’ll always be grateful for.”

The Style

“El Leon” fits. De Jesus walks his opponents down behind a hard straight right hand, mixes in body work through the middle rounds, and has the timing and counter-punching that separate prospects from finished products. He is a pressure fighter who does not abandon technique when the pace picks up.

The style, he says, is Puerto Rican at its core.

“Growing up I was a big Miguel Cotto fan. That’s my generation, Miguel Cotto, Tito Trinidad. But my favorite was Manny Pacquiao, just the way he was tenacious, always throwing punches, always attacking,” de Jesus said. “For me, that’s my mentality. I love breaking fights down to the body. I learned that from Miguel Cotto, a Puerto Rican fighter. That’s how we fight. Go to the body hard, break the fighter down. That’s what I learned growing up, and I carried it into the pro game.”

Friday Night at the Garden

The Adaway fight was the loudest stage of de Jesus’ career. The card was promoted by Most Valuable Promotions, the Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian outfit behind the MVPW-02 card, and headlined by Alycia Baumgardner’s defense of her unified WBA, IBF and WBO super featherweight titles against Bo Mi Re Shin. De Jesus opened the night with a complete performance: eight rounds of controlled aggression, clean work on the inside, and a final card of 80-71 that tells you how one-sided the action was.

“Adaway is a great fighter. We knew going into the fight that he was a great boxer, a slick boxer. He just came off two great wins over good opponents, so we knew we had a great opponent in front of us,” de Jesus said. “But we also had a game plan to beat him. Me, my coach, Adam Glenn, we all knew we could beat him at our own game. Being the aggressor, putting pressure on him, breaking him down, being in his chest.”

The body work and the pressure did what they were designed to do.

“We knew he wasn’t going to like that, and with my power, a lot of fighters don’t like getting hit like that,” de Jesus said. “I was able to break him down, and as the fight went on I felt him slowing down, and as he slowed down I was just getting stronger. That was the entire plan going into the fight.”

Doing it in New York, he said, was its own reward.

“Fighting in New York was a dream. It was bigger than what I thought it would be. Having my family, my friends there, friends who drove up and flew in from my hometown, which is seven or eight hours from New York City, it was big for me, big for my community,” de Jesus said. “My brother Dominique Crowder was also great with him going cheering in the front row showing me love . It was huge for me and my family. It’s something I’ll remember forever. My kids will remember forever. It was just a great night.”

He gave credit to the promotion for the platform.

“Jake Paul and MVP, they throw a great show. That was my first time on there. I’ve fought on PBC and on Most Valuable Promotions now, and they do it big, the whole setup. Everything was out of this world,” de Jesus said. “They go above and beyond for fighters. They care how the fighter feels, they care how the fight goes. I just think they’re a growing promotion that’s going to keep going because of the way they handle every situation. I’m super grateful to fight on their card, and especially in New York, my hometown. It was a blessing for me.”

What Comes Next

The super bantamweight division has Naoya Inoue at the top of the undisputed picture and a dense group of contenders and rising prospects underneath. De Jesus, at 12-1-2 with 8 knockouts and eight straight wins, is positioned to push into that conversation. The next fight, and the one after it, will determine how fast.

“The next couple of fights, I definitely want to start ranking in the sanctioning bodies. Whatever sanctioning body, WBC, WBA, IBF, whatever. We’re looking to get a title fight sometime this year. I’m just hoping we can get it done, move my career forward, and keep stacking up wins,” de Jesus said.

The belief in the operation running him, he added, is what makes the rest possible.

“I trust my management, I trust my team. I know whatever direction we go, it’s going to be the right path for me.”