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By Chris Cella
This past Friday, New Jersey’s own up-and-coming light middleweight prospect Thomas “Cornflake” La Manna battled his way to 11-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Josh Snyder at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.
At 21-years-old La Manna, who stems from a boxing family, has progressively gotten better within the squared circle and feels good about starting the 2013 calendar year off with a win in front of local fans.
“Josh Snyder is a rough and tough veteran,” said La Manna. “He gave me a tough fight but that’s what I want. I’m happy with my performance and the win. A lot of people didn’t give me a chance against him but I pulled it off.”
La Manna did more than “pull it off” against his 33-year-old opponent, dropping him twice in the fight and outworking Snyder en route to his 11th professional career.
Since turning pro in 2011 La Manna has made a name for himself in the light middleweight division. He has dealt with the adversity of being a young fighter turning pro, as well as the challenges of rising up within a stacked division. But through each of his fights he has persevered and come out on top.
“I feel my greatest strength inside the ring is my height and my size,” said La Manna. “I’m six-one at light middleweight. I know eventually I will grow into middleweight and super middleweight; I think my big advantage is my size. I’m fast and I’m quick; I’m slick and I’m flashy. In boxing, that’s all around flashy, and that’s what fans want to see. I want to crowd please. I want boxing to pay my bills. I think with the style I have, and all the attributes I bring into the ring, I can do it.”
La Manna is adamant about staying active within the squared circle, and will be looking to return to action shortly.
At 21-years-old, Thomas La Manna has found a healthy balance between his professional career and living the youthful lifestyle.
“For me it’s about staying focused,” La Manna said. “I can’t let the side things take precedence. I turned pro when I was still in high school. Now it’s about staying on track and not losing sight of my goals. Most people my age are out bar hopping and being crazy. The biggest lesson I have learned is that I won’t let the “typical” 21-year-old lifestyle catch up with me.
Within 2 years and 11 fights Thomas La Manna has showed that he is a progressive prospect, improving with each outing between the ropes.
