Jermall Charlo Vs. Thomas LaManna: Odds, Records, Prediction

Forbes

a day ago

In the past few years, Jermall Charlo has fought against more than just 160-pound foes in the ring. He's also battled against personal problems out of the ring, including mental health and legal issues, that he thinks have hampered his career. But he's looking to get himself back into boxing fans' conscience on Saturday when he takes on Thomas LaManna. Here's everything you need to know about Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas LaManna, including the odds, their records and a prediction on who will win.
Since defending his middleweight title vs. Juan Macias Montiel four years ago, Charlo has only fought once (a solid decision win vs. Jose Benavidez Jr. at super middleweight in 2023), but he's been arrested at least three times since then and has been charged with DUI stemming from an alleged car accident in May 2024. He also told the New York Post in 2023 that he was dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.
'Depression, self conflation, going from hot to cold really fast is shocking to you,' Charlo told the Post. 'Dealing with all kinds of cases of [being] bipolar, being by yourself, thinking that you shutting the world out is going to help you . . . It just feels like everybody is against you, I don't care if you're in the Uber, a cab, wherever, everybody is just against you. Why I felt like this, [I don't know]. I couldn't tell that some people weren't against me, it was just that at the moment it's the way you're feeling and I turned my back against pretty much the world. I just had to start getting help with it and it made me a lot better.'
Now, nearly two years later, Charlo, at 168 pounds, is trying to get back on track in a new weight division.
'I just miss boxing, period,' he said. 'I miss getting up and just focusing on boxing, and I'm back to doing that at the highest level. The sky's the limit for me at this weight. I'm sparring bigger guys and I can lift more now. I'm squatting more than I ever did and using my body more than I ever did. I feel like this is the division I'm going to end my career in. You're going to see me go out and be more explosive than you've ever seen me before in my life.'
If he looks impressive on Saturday, he potentially could face Caleb Plant, assuming he beats Amando Resindez in the main event of the card. But LaManna wants to ruin Charlo's plans.
'I've been in this same seat before, and I came up short when I fought Erislandy Lara,' LaManna said. 'I never want to go through that again. It messed me up. We all know what the task at hand is, and we're going to give this my best shot. I'm going to give it my all. We're going to upset the apple cart.'
Here's more info on the Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas LaManna showdown that U.S. viewers can watch on Amazon Video (free with Prime subscription) beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Despite Charlo's absence from the ring, that hasn't stopped the oddsmakers from making him a heavy favorite. Entering his fight, Charlo is the -1600 favorite (bet $1,600 to win $100), while LaManna is the +850 underdog (win $850 on a $100 wager). Want more value for your money? I'd go with Charlo winning by decision at +140.
If you were looking for a fun parlay for this weekend's action of boxing (and this is only for entertainment purposes), I might take Charlo beating LaManna by decision at+140, Caleb Plant to beat Armando Residenz by decision at +210 and Yoenli Hernandez to beat Kyrone Davis at -650. If all those hit, you'd win $758 on a $100 wager.
Though we haven't seen Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) in the ring since November 2023, he remains undefeated, and he probably shouldn't have too many struggles winning on Saturday. It's been nearly a decade since two of the best victories of his careers (vs. Austin Trout and Julian Williams) and a half-decade since decisively beating Sergiy Derevyanchenko, but he still showed plenty of skills in his last fight, nearly shutting out Jose Benavidez Jr.
Say this for LaManna (39-5-1, 18 KOs): he's on a nine-fight winning streak after getting knocked out in the first round by Erislandy Lara in 2021. But his level of opponent in the past four years hasn't been stellar, and there isn't much reason to think he can pull off an upset against Charlo, especially if Charlo is still a reasonably elite fighter.
Despite his well-documented issues, Charlo is still an impressive (and undefeated) fighter. It's hard to imagine that, at the age of 35 and with his inactivity, he's still in the prime of his career. But even a well-worn/older version of Charlo will still be too much for LaManna to handle. Say Charlo by decision, somewhere in the 98-92 range.