By: Danny Serratelli
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (March 19, 2016)– Rising Promotions and Vincent M. Ponte’s Gulfstream Promotions put on a great, old school boxing show which sold out the 600-seat Celebrity Ballroom at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City.
In the Main Event of the evening, Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna, 19-1, 7 KO’s took on Kendal Mena, 20-3, 11 KO’s of The Dominican Republic in an 8-round bout that was moved to an earlier time slot possibly in an effort to empty out some of the packed house early. LaManna did his part stopping Mena by TKO at 2:23 of the 4th round.
LaManna, a 24-year-old Millville High School graduate, came out confident and dictated the pace of the fight from the start. He appeared to hurt Mena with combinations several times prompting Mena to spit out his mouthpiece four times in the short bout. In the 4th round, LaManna caught Mena with a straight right hand that obviously hurt him bad. LaManna then moved in for the kill and referee David Franciosi jumped in and rescued Mena, stopping the fight at 2:23 of the 4th round. . LaManna was very gracious after scoring the 4th round TKO saying, “I want to say thank you to every single person in this room,” “You’re making it possible to bring boxing back to Atlantic City.”
In the past, LaManna has fought consistently as a junior middleweight (154) and even a middleweight (160), but the move down to the talent packed 147-pound division makes more sense for a young slender boxer like LaManna. I have known Thomas since he was a young child. I used to see him at fights when he was little, often at Arturo Gatti fights in Atlantic City with his father Vinny. He was always a polite kid and a student of boxing. They would say he was going to be a fighter, but he never looked like a fighter as a boy, even upon turning pro he has had a lot of critics. However, looks can be deceiving and I must say, I am very proud of Thomas.
Thomas marches to his own drummer, maintains the confidence necessary to compete at a high level and is always working hard to continue to improve. He has already come a lot farther than anyone would have imagined, and before he hangs up his gloves he will continue to surprise a lot of people and prove a lot of people wrong.
In another featured bout of the evening, Tommy “The Razor” Rainone, 25-7-1, 5 KO’s a popular Long Island, New York fighter took on tough veteran Maurice “MO Bad” Chalmers, 14-13-1, 8 KO’s of Danville Virginia.
People often think popular fighters are given “dead bodies” on small cards to pad their records. While this does happen….often, it certainly was not the case for Rainone tonight. Chalmers had boxed as a professional for 15 years and has been in the ring with such notable opponents as James Kirkland (twice), and Andre Berto. He was 6-1 in his last 7 fights and during that span two of the victories came against fighters who were previously undefeated. Chalmers can punch, but he also has left himself susceptible to be hurt in fights, so his goal going in was to engage Rainone who is more of a technician.
Rainone did not oblige as he boxed like a really pale, southpaw, Floyd Mayweather. While for the most part it wasn’t a very fan friendly fight, Rainone was the ultimate technician dictating the pace and distance the whole way. He rested when he wanted and picked his shots. Chalmers did land a few good punches throughout the fight, but Rainone was never hurt as he rolls with most shots and has a good chin just in case. Scoring Rainones fights is always interesting, in a way that scoring Paulie Malignaggi’s fights often is. Both need to be extremely sharp at all times because they pick their shots, sometimes aren’t very busy, and often allow the other fighter to be the aggressor, but usually it isn’t affective aggression. Judges also have the preconceived notion that they aren’t punching hard. Often they can dominate a round, but in the past sometimes fighters perceived as punchers could easily steal close rounds against them on some judges’ cards by landing only a few punches. Despite the aforementioned, Rainone appeared to win almost every round. However, after the final bell it was announced it was a split decision, 79-73 Rainone, 79-77 Chalmers, and finally…….79-73 Rainone. Later I was told, (but unable to confirm when this was printed) that the scorecard for Chalmers was a mistake…but either way, Rainone picks up his 25th win of his career.
Boxing fans should make a point come out and check out the next Rising Boxing Promotions event. They will usually always feature LaManna and probably bring Rainone back as well; they are two gentlemen who are good fighters and great guys who are good for the sport. The show itself was great. It was reminiscent of many successful KEA Boxing Promotions shows (KEA is a North NJ based Boxing Promoter) The staff of both companies make you feel like you’re family. The whole staff of Rising Boxing Promotions, including the boss, Thomas LaManna’s mother, Marc “The hardest working man in boxing” Abrams and the rest all did an excellent job at making the event have a family feel to it and it was a great success.
Undercard coming soon….