LAS VEGAS —
Jermall Charlo delivered on his promise and frosted "Cornflake" Thomas LaManna.
The former two-division champion Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) returned after yet another extended hiatus Saturday night to score three knockdowns en route to a sixth-round stoppage win against the heavy underdog LaManna (39-6-1, 18 KOs).
The super middleweight fight was the co-main event for the PBC on Prime Video card, headlined by Caleb Plant and Armando Resendiz at Mandalay Bay. Charlo held up his end of the bargain, but Plant lost by split decision.
They were scheduled to face off later this year.
Charlo,
fighting for just the second time since 2021, looked sharp in his 168-pound debut, considering the outmatched opposition, solely relying on his jab in the first round to get warmed up. The 35-year-old Houston native opened up in the second by unloading with hard rights.
The onslaught officially started in the third when Charlo had LaManna on skates midway through the round, and he dropped him with a clubbing right hand.
LaManna, who promised he wouldn't fold like he did against Erislandy Lara in one round in 2021, appeared to get dropped again in the fourth from a left hook as his knee scraped the canvas, but referee Mark Nelson didn’t originally rule the sequence a knockdown. After instant replay was leveraged, however, it was ruled and scored as one.
Charlo dropped LaManna, this time officially, with a straight right hand down the guard in the fifth. Just as the sixth round got underway, a ringside physician inspected LaManna and deemed him unfit to continue, forcing Nelson to stop the fight at the one-second mark.
Charlo outlanded LaManna 67-19, and afterwards was appreciative when asked for his thoughts post-fight: "It feels good to be back. I'm thankful to everyone who stood by me. ... I'm back. You know you gotta go through things to get better. I felt good, got to work and knew my timing was there — shoutout 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."
LaManna didn't have any complaints after falling well short in the chief support bout.
"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," he said.
"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 did what he had to do."
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan