Jermall Charlo came out on top on May 31 when he faced Thomas LaManna at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The contest featured the two-weight champion of Lafayette, LA making his ring return against the opponent from Belleville, NJ. The pair battled it out in the co-feature to Caleb Plant vs Armando Resendiz.
The scheduled 10-round contest didn’t go the full distance. Charlo outclassed LaManna, taking a dominant win via stoppage. The super middleweight bout was halted at the beginning of the sixth round on the advice of the ringside doctor, who called it a day to save LaManna from further punishment.
On his way to victory, Charlo dropped LaManna in the third round with a right hand and in the fifth round with a series of straight punches. In the fourth round, LaManna seemed to have touched the canvas with his knee after being hit with a left hook, but the knockdown wasn’t counted. However, the “no knockdown” ruling was overturned on video review between rounds.
“It feels good to be back,” said Charlo. “I’m thankful to everyone who stood by me, I love y’all. It goes on man. I’m back. You know you gotta go through things to get better… I felt good. I got to work and I knew my timing was there. Shout out to my trainer Hylon Williams Sr.”
“I’m just looking to stay well-known and relevant. No more dark places and keep my head straight. I just want to encourage everyone in the world, keep God first, keep God first.”
LaManna said, “It is what it is, I did the best I could. The doctors are here for a reason and they made their decision. I’m disappointed, but it’s boxing… Charlo was sharper than I expected. I expected him to come out guns blazing a little more. He’s a two-time world champion for a reason. He has a great, heavy jab and he did what he had to do.”
With the win, 35-year-old Jermall Charlo, who stepped through the ropes for the first time in 18 months, made his successful debut at 168 lbs, improved to 34-0, 23 KOs, and remained undefeated. 33-year-old Thomas LaManna dropped to 39-6-1, 18 KOs, snapping his nine-fight winning streak.