ATLANTIC CITY — After strolling via the backstage curtain, Thomas LaManna set free a cathartic expletive and walked to an empty hallway at Bally’s Lodge and On line casino to course of the second. 13 years prior, LaManna made his professional debut on the similar constructing, and now he obtained his best validation as an expert.
The 32-year-old from Millville, N.J. defeated Juan Carlos Abreu by third spherical stoppage on Saturday, June 8, dropping the Dominican slugger 3 times to finish the bout on the 2:15 mark and win the vacant WBA “gold” middleweight title, a second tier belt which LaManna believes makes him first in line to face the acknowledged champion. It was a milestone within the New Jersey fighter’s profession, validating a profession that has seen its share of ups and downs.
“It’s only a actual feeling the place I’ve a chunk of {hardware} that does one thing in boxing. Now I am going from the hunter to the hunted,” stated LaManna (38-5-1, 17 knockouts).
LaManna was initially scheduled to face Johan Gonzalez earlier than Gonzalez dropped out and Abreu (26-8-1, 24 KOs) turned the opponent in mid-April. Solely LaManna was eligible to win the belt nonetheless, after Abreu missed the load, coming in formally at 162.5 kilos, although he needed to lower a number of kilos after weighing in unofficially at roughly 166 kilos.
LaManna weighed in at 159.5 kilos.
Abreu’s weight points put a goal on his midsection, which LaManna started to concentrate on after a sense out first spherical. Abreu waded into vary and was capable of land a proper hand right here and there nevertheless it was the 6’1” LaManna’s jab that managed the motion for probably the most half. LaManna lastly was capable of make an impression on Abreu within the third, when a proper uppercut scored the primary knockdown.
“That was a chin shot, I do know as a result of hand ringed just a little bit. The second and third have been extra so physique as a result of we have been like rock ‘em sock ‘em robots for the final minute or no matter. Whoever lands first it was gonna be certainly one of us. We caught him and bought him the f—okay out of there,” stated LaManna.
The win was the fruits of an extended highway for LaManna which noticed him win his first 16 bouts as a professional however battle to attain a signature win, struggling losses in step-up fights in opposition to the likes of Antoine Douglas, Jorge Cota and Brian Mendoza, and struggling a primary spherical knockout loss in 2021 to Erislandy Lara for the WBA middleweight world title.
The win over Abreu, his eighth straight, is his greatest but, as Abreu had proven his class in dropping an in depth majority choice to Charles Conwell in 2022 and lasting six rounds in a recreation effort in opposition to Jaron Ennis in 2020.
LaManna’s long-time coach Reggie Lloyd tells The Ring that Abreu’s excessive knockout share didn’t concern him a lot as a result of Abreu doesn’t maintain a excessive work fee and is simply in search of energy punches. He stated the important thing was to maintain his protection tight and keep busy.
“Simply to the touch the physique, keep behind the jab, use his peak. We all know the man likes to show his again so I used to be telling him to make use of the jab and produce the fitting hand to the physique and it broke him down,” stated Lloyd.
LaManna says he plans to place in a petition with the WBA to get a second alternative at Lara, however is open to different large combat alternatives at 160 kilos.
“Let’s attempt to consolidate, that’s an amazing story. However financially, [Lara] don’t actually draw probably the most. No matter large fights are at 160. I’ve been linked with Chris Eubank, we talked about Jarrett Hurd, me and Danny Garcia can be loopy right here in Atlantic Metropolis. Now that I bought that belt I feel it should cement it just a little bit the place I can get a correct alternative,” stated LaManna.
Different outcomes
Chiara Dituri (9-1, 3 KOs) of Brooklyn, N.Y. scored her second straight win following her first profession defeat, profitable a cut up choice over Perla Lomeli (5-2) of Mexicali, Mexico. Two judges scored the combat for Dituri by scores of 77-75 and 78-74, whereas the third had it 77-75 for Lomeli.
Gabriel Gerena (6-0, 5 KOs) scored his first win since graduating from Rutgers Enterprise Faculty with a level in finance final month, pummeling Lyle McFarlane (2-6, 1 KO) to a stoppage after the fifth spherical of their six-round scheduled junior welterweight bout. Gerena, 22, hails from Piscataway, N.J.
Light-weight Justin Palmieri (2-0, 1 KO) of Maple Shade, N.J. scored his first profession stoppage, dropping Andrew Toppin (0-2) as soon as within the first spherical with a physique shot earlier than ending him off with a proper hand to the physique adopted by a left hook to the chin within the second spherical, main the nook to throw within the towel on the 2:10 mark. Palmieri, 24, trains alongside LaManna with Reggie Lloyd.
Palmieri, who turned professional final November, had a quick novice profession of simply eight bouts, although he hadn’t competed for over two years earlier than his debut.
“I at all times had the type for the professionals, I by no means had that tremendous quick tempo. I at all times needed to choose my photographs and actually make them rely. It was only a matter of time, I wasn’t gonna be no Olympian or something like that so I simply needed to get within the execs as quickly as attainable,” stated Palmieri of his choice to show professional.
Damian Tinnerello (2-0, 2 KOs) of Berlin, N.J. scored his second straight win in three months, stopping Brooklyn’s Jordan Drayton (0-1) at 2:57 of the opening spherical of their four-round junior middleweight bout. The 21-year-old Tinnerello, who has been enlisted within the Air Nationwide Guard for a yr, scored one knockdown with a proper hand earlier than a left hook to the physique ended issues.
“I set him up all behind that jab. We executed our recreation plan, stayed calm, stayed affected person. I noticed a possibility and I took it. He didn’t belong in there so I took him out,” stated Tinnerello.
The present was promoted by Essential Occasions.
