ATLANTIC CITY – Millville welterweight Thomas LaManna, Pleasantville welterweight Anthony Young and Pleasantville super-middleweight Gabriel Pham all set themselves up for bigger fights with impressive victories Saturday at The Claridge – A Radisson Hotel.
LaManna (23-2, 9 KOs) earned an eight-round, unanimious decision over rugged veteran Carlos Winton Velasquez (24-29-2, 15 KOs), of Nicaragua, in the main event.
Judges Kasson Cheeks (80-71), Lawrence Layton (80-71) and Joe Pasquale (80-71) had LaManna winning comfortably, as did The Press (80-71).
LaManna, 25, scored the fight’s only knockdown in the final seconds of the eighth, catching Velasquez with a five-punch flurry that forced him to the canvas just 10 seconds before the bell.
That ended a solid performance for LaManna, who controlled the pace despite suffering a possible broken right hand during the fight.
“He was real tough, real durable,” LaManna said. “I might have broken the hand. But hopefully I’ll be back out here in August against guys like Kermit Cintron or Zab Judah. I’d really like a rematch with Dusty Harrison.”
Young (17-2, 6 KOs) delivered the best performance in his career en route to an eight-round, unanimous decision over George Sosa (15-9, 15 KOs), of Reading, Pennsylvania.
Cheeks (80-72), Layton (80-71) and Pasquale (80-72) all had Young pitching a shutout, as did The Press (80-72).
“I feel like I’m improving every fight,” Young said. “I just want to keep fighting, keep improving and put myself in position to contend (for a world title). And once you get to a championship fight, anything can happen.”
Young, 29, established control in the opening round, peppering Sosa with crisp combinations.
He continued the onslaught for most of the fight, landing two- and three-punch volleys while avoiding Sosa’s knockout power.
“He has 15 knockouts, so I definitely wasn’t going take him lightly,” Young said. “I wanted to establish who was the boss in there right away and let him know I wasn’t going to lay down.”
Pham (9-1, 4 KOs) earned his third victory of the year with a convincing, six-round, unanimous decision over Chicago veteran Edgar Perez (7-21, 3 KOs). Cheeks (60-54), Layton (60-54) and Pasquale (60-54) had Pham winning every round, as did The Press (60-54).
Perez is known for his chin. Although he is now 1-11 in his last 12 fights, according to boxrec.com, he went the distance all but four times in that stretch.
