Thomas LaManna considers Jermall Charlo’s chances of making weight Friday "about 50-50."

If the former WBC middleweight champion comes in above their contracted maximum of 168 pounds, LaManna won’t take the matter lightly. He's already at a disadvantage because the underdog who answers to "Cornflake" will fight at the super middleweight limit for the first time when he faces Charlo at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

“We’ll make him get as low as you can, squeeze,” LaManna told The Ring. “We signed a contract to fight at ’68. Make ’68 or we’ll have to figure it out. I hope he’s not gonna come in at light heavyweight and think I’m gonna fight. That’s not happening. If he comes in over, he’s gotta pay a lot because they got it and they need it.”

LaManna (39-5-1, 18 KOs), of Millville, New Jersey, is especially mindful of Charlo’s weight because he officially weighed 3.5 pounds above the contract weight for his last fight.

Houston’s Charlo officially weighed 166.5 pounds for his 10-round fight with Jose Benavidez Jr. in November 2023 at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Phoenix’s Benavidez, who mostly competed in the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions, came in at 161¼ pounds.

Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought since he beat Benavidez (29-3-1, 20 KOs) by unanimous decision.

The former IBF junior middleweight champ explained recently that he feels fresher and stronger now that he has moved up to the super middleweight limit. Charlo, 35, hasn’t spent draining stretches in the steam room or running while wearing a bodysuit to shed weight during this training camp.

“It still takes work to get to ’68,” Charlo told The Ring. “On top of staying in shape, on top of staying fast and all those good things, I like it. … It’s not as bad mentally [as getting down to 160]. At ’68, I still gotta work to get to the weight division, but I didn’t have to work as much. It’s small stuff like cutting out proteins and changing the diet up a little bit, eating a little bit earlier in the daytime to make the weight easier.”

Charlo is a minus-1200 favorite to defeat LaManna, who has won nine straight fights since WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara knocked him out in the first round of their May 2021 bout at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. If Charlo wins and former IBF super middleweight champ Caleb Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) defeats Mexico’s Armando Resendiz (15-2, 11 KOs) in the 12-round main event Saturday night, they’ll likely fight next.

Prime Video’s coverage of the Plant-Resendiz undercard is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET (1 a.m. GMT).