Atlantic City, NJ—Undefeated middleweight Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna, of Millville, NJ, tackles his first eight-rounder and his toughest foe when he boxes Ahsandi Gibbs, of Tampa, FL, on Saturday evening, April 12, in the Grand Ballroom at Bally’s Atlantic City.
The LaManna-Gibbs contest will serve as the semifinal to the 10-round junior lightweight main event which features Jason Sosa, of Camden, NJ, against Michael Brooks, of Nassau, LI. First of seven fights is 7.30 p.m.
LaManna (right) 22, is unbeaten in 13 fights since turning pro in 2011. He has scored seven knockouts.
He is one of the most popular fighters in South Jersey. This will mark his seventh fight in Atlantic City and his fourth at Bally’s, where he shut out Joshua Robertson, of Lynchburg, VA, over six rounds in his last fight Sept. 28.
“I’m excited to be back in the ring,” LaManna said. “After my last fight I was in numerous training camps, helping guys prepare, so I’ve always been in the gym. I’m definitely not looking for any more six-month layoffs.
“As far as Gibbs goes, from what I know he’s a non-stop pressure fighter, but he’s nothing that I haven’t seen before. I want to make a statement. Expect clip_image006fireworks on April 12. I want to thank my team for getting me ready—Vinny Ponte, Raul Rivas, Rashiem Jefferson, Hassan Hamid-El, Jermaine Clark. I’m looking forward to the next step up in my career.”
It’s a solid step-up fight for LaManna, who insists he’s ready to go to the next level. His biggest win was a six-round decision over veteran Josh Snyder, of Berlin, MD, one year ago in Atlantic City.
Gibbs (left), 35, turned pro in 2007 and is 10-3, 4 K0s, but has not boxed in three years. He has boxed better opposition, though he lost to James Kirkland, of Austin, TX; Ibahiem King, of West Palm Beach, FL, and Marcus Upshaw, of Jacksonville, FL. He has not boxed since losing to Kirkland.
“Originally, I took some time off to see what I wanted to do next,” Gibbs said. “Different situations caused me to fall out of love with what I was doing. I started to go to school and there wasn’t enough hours in the day to box, work, go to school and do all three the way they needed to be done.
“From the outside looking in, I began to see the mistakes I made going and decided to come back. I’ve been trying to get a fight for close to two years and they kept falling through for various reasons. I’ve been training with Arturo Ramos and I feel like I’m the best I’ve ever been.
“I feel good about this fight. I’ve been ready for a long time. I don’t know much about my opponent other than what everybody that punches his name into Google knows. I won’t really know until the bell rings.”
Five additional fights complete the card.
ABOUT APRIL 12
The Sosa-Brooks and LaManna-Gibbs fights top a seven-bout card at Bally’s Atlantic City and it will be streamed live by www.gofightlive.tv. First fight is 7.30 pm. Tickets are priced at $50 and $75 and they are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing (215-765-0922) and all Ticketmaster outlets (800-745-3000). Tickets also are on sale at www.peltzboxing.com and www.ticketmaster.com. The card is being promoted by Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc., in association with Bally’s Atlantic City.
