Antoine Douglas successfully stopped Thomas LaManna in the 6th round of their scheduled 10 round main event on ShoBox tonight, airing live from The Space at Westbury in Westbury, New York.
Douglas was looking to make a statement early in the fight. He was pretty impressive with a combination of speed and power, but he wasn’t constantly taking advantage of some of the openings that LaManna is known to give. LaManna, nicknamed “Cornflake,” is usually a very clumsy footed fighter, but he makes up for that with good use of full range punches and an aggressive mixture in his attack.
Douglas began dictating the pace of the fight and LaManna was beginning to fall into a very deep hole. The kind of fight Douglas was fighting would be considered a gradual one, he purposely built his momentum up with each passing round so that it could match his output. However, the biggest factor that separated these fighters was the physicality of Douglas and his ability to be the bigger man in the fight and use that size to throw LaManna around in the fight.
The fight ended up being a continuation of the first round as each and every round passed, Douglas was the quicker fighter and mixed his attack well, he mixed it in a way that utilized his physical power.
In the 6th round, what spelt the beginning of the end was a knee taken by LaManna after a less than severe shot. The knee was taken out of accumulation and some frustration. Moments later, after LaManna beat the count, he was sent back to the canvas for the second time in the round after a beautiful right hand to the head set up a stronger left hook.
LaManna beat the count once more, but he was put on his pants for the 3rd and final time in round 6, which prompted referee Harvey Dock to call a stop to the bout. Douglas landed a tight but inaccurate shot, but I believe LaManna went down out of necessity as opposed to being hurt. Either way, it was a solid performance by Douglas, and he can take solace in the fact that he beat a fighter that isn’t easily defeated.
