Thomas LaManna is feeling himself going into Erislandy Lara showdown
There is no question that Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna (30-4-1, 12 KO’s) is adhering to the “go hard or go home” state of mind! In the final presser before his showdown with Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (27-3-3, 15 KO’s), he has promised that he will prevail by way of knockout. For many, this will no doubt come across as a tall order. As he freely admitted himself, this is his most meaningful fight and stiffest competition to date. Yet, with the vacant regular WBA World Middleweight title on the line, he feels it’s now or never.
“Well I am hoping that the fans understand and respect that I belong at the high level despite that this is my first time fighting a world champion at the world championship level. You know I belong here and to just give me my respect, win, lose or draw, but more importantly when I win and when I retire him.
[when asked how the fight ends] Knockout!”
It certainly will not help anyone outside of his bloodline and camp to see that he already has four losses on his ledger. Two of these were by knockout. In fact, Cornflake is actually 2-2 in his last four outings. Admittedly however, his loss to Brain Mendoza was no less than highway robbery. Even more concerning though, the two victories came against guys who had 40 losses between them. So it’s not like he has been sharpening his teeth on the cream of the crop. It is actually something of a headscratcher why LaManna is even being given the chance to fight for the vacant title in the first place.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
This will be The American Dream’s first fight at 160 since moving up from super welterweight. Prior to the jump, Lara was the Regular WBA World Super Welterweight champion. Yet, in their current rankings, the WBA has LaManna as their #8 middleweight in the world. None of the #1-7 slots are vacant. Therefore, it’s rather puzzling how LaManna was deemed the appropriate dance partner for this title shot. Again, even Cornflake admits that he has not come close to fighting world class caliber opposition. Yet, in the zany world of boxing, anything can happen and this is just one more instance of just that!
Given the lucky lotto ticket nature of the bout, its no wonder that Thomas LaManna is shooting for the moon. Honestly though, who can blame him? If logic prevails, this could very well be his only shot at a title, secondary or otherwise. Really, it would be rather spiritless for Cornflake to say anything less than what he is. So come Saturday night, we will just have to see if the New Jersey native can somehow conjure up a magical Hollywood movie ending. Yet, more than likely the aging veteran should still have more than enough gas in tank to dispense one more boxing lesson. In the end, only time will tell, but who are you putting your money on?
By: Bakari Simpson
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