Extra Points: LaManna ends career with exciting win

By DAVID WEINBERG

ATLANTIC CITY – Thomas LaManna dropped to his knees in the middle of the ring Saturday night as wave of emotions hit him like an uppercut.

His eyes welled with tears as a streak of blood slid down his reddened face from a cut above his left eyebrow. He sagged to all fours, struggled to regain his composure, until his cornermen helped him to his feet.

He had just staged a thrilling comeback in the final fight of his 15-year professional career, rallying from a near loss to earn a fifth-round TKO over Juan Rodriguez Jr. in front of a roaring crowd at Bally’s Atlantic City.

“What a way to close it out,” LaManna said in the dressing room afterward. “That was some crazy (stuff). But outside of a clean performance, a sharp, composed performance, I wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way.”

LaManna, who made his pro debut in 2011 during his senior year at Millville High School, finished with a 40-6-1 record that included 19 KOs.

He is tied with former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon of Atlantic City (40-8, 36 KOs) for the second-most career wins among local fighters in recent history. The late Richie Kates, a former light-heavyweight contender from Bridgeton, earned 44 victories (44-6-1, 23 KOs) from 1963-79.

He almost finished with 39 wins.

Rodriguez (14-10, 6 KOs), a 39-year-old southpaw from Union City, shocked the crowd when he forced LaManna toward the ropes in the fourth round and uncorked a right hook that forced LaManna to take a knee. He also landed a crisp right that opened the cut.

“I thought I was going to get him out of there,” Rodriguez said afterward. “But Tommy has always had a little dog in him, so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task.”

The bell sounded to end the fourth round and LaManna walked slowly to his corner and plopped onto his stool.

This was not the way the final fight of his 15-year boxing career was supposed to end.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘(Bleep), I’m in trouble,” LaManna said. “To be honest, there was a brief moment, like half a second, where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep going.  But there was no way I was going to let it end like that. I had to figure the (stuff) out and do it quick. Going into the fifth, I knew I just had to go get him.”

He heeded his own advice, charging out of his corner and driving Rodriguez into the ropes behind a swarm of punches that produced a knockdown.

Rodriguez got up, but was on rubbery legs as LaManna chased him to the opposite of the ring. He capped another flurry with a right hook as Rodriguez toppled under the bottom rope and teetered on the edge of the ring.

He got up again, but referee David Fields wisely stopped the fight at one minute, 35 seconds of the round.

“That was some ‘Rocky’ (stuff) right there,” LaManna said. “I went after him thinking I had to (give it my all) because this was the last time. That was crazy.”

It served as an apropos ending to a 15-year boxing career that featured bouts of frustration, disappointment and success.

He made his pro debut in the very same arena he ended his career. His first fight – a first-round TKO over Anthony Williams (0-2) - was at Bally’s on February 11, 2011, during his senior year at Millville High School.

Over the years, he dealt with his share of frustration and disappointment, but also attained a level of success few local fighters have achieved.

He’s one of only five boxers from the area to vie for a major world championship, along with Kates, Seldon, the late Leavander Johnson of Atlantic City and former Atlantic City contender John Brown.

Seldon won the WBA heavyweight championship, and Johnson took the IBF lightweight crown.

LaManna came up short in his title shot, losing via first-round knockout to WBC middleweight champ Erislandy Lara four years ago in California, but rebounded to enjoy a nine-fight winning streak.

Saturday’s fight marked a few milestones.

It was almost exactly 10 years ago that LaManna and his mother, Debra LaManna, formed Rising Star Promotions and held their first show.

The bout was also Thomas LaManna’s 25^th in Atlantic City, where he was 24-0-1.

After he delivered a tearful address to the crowd and posed for photos, LaManna retreated to his corner and donned his robe for the walk back to the dressing room.

It was white with blue lettering on the back.

It read, “Did It My Way.”