In Thursday's strange, sparky remote press conference to promote a May 31 PBC card involving Jermall Charlo versus Thomas LaManna, Charlo couldn’t decide quite how he wanted to behave.

Early in the presser, Charlo was calm, giving slow, thought-out answers to the assembled media’s questions. Though host Ray Flores alluded to the fighters trading barbs before the call officially began, Charlo even extended grace to LaManna: “I just want the best for you, Thomas. I just want the best for you. I don’t mean no harm.”

Charlo trading comments with someone off-camera, without muting himself, was the first sign something might be amiss.

Sean Zittel, a boxing interviewer and videographer, asked Charlo to estimate his current form relative to that during his unanimous decision wins against Sergey Derevyanchenko and Jose Benavidez Jnr.

Charlo said he feels just as good now as he did then. “I had some chaos going on, but it feels better not to have to deal with that no more.” Charlo asserted. “The problems that I had, they’re no longer involved with my life. And my life has got better. Everything is smooth.”

Then he proceeded to undermine his own words.

“Thomas, I’mma beat your ass,” Charlo said, though Zittel’s question hadn’t had anything to do with his upcoming fight with LaManna. “You do know that. I’m back … when I knock you out, I’mma stomp on your ass. So keep talking.”

Charlo continued trash-talking, even when Zittel asked LaManna a question. The underdog could barely get a word in edgewise.

“You’re too emotional, champ,” LaManna said to Charlo, before asking Zittel to finish his question.

When Zittel did, inquiring what LaManna might have improved during his nine-fight winning streak since Erislandy Lara stopped him in the first round of their 2021 summit, Charlo attempted to answer the question himself: “Nothing … you a fucking bum.”

“Alright, so you fighting a bum, then!” LaManna cried in response, and the shouting match was on. The more pointed and specific insults came from Charlo: “You wanna be black so bad,” and “You ain’t got no experience,” among them.

LaManna seemed more puzzled than insulted, admitting, “I’m letting homie get to my fucking head,” as he stumbled over his words while answering Zittel’s question. “He sounds like a fucking weirdo, bro. Chill.”

Perhaps for the better, Flores wrapped up the Charlo-LaManna portion of the press conference shortly afterwards.

Charlo, 33-0 (22 KOs), is a supreme talent, and the favorite in this bout. He works behind a rangy, ramrod jab, his combinations are fluid, and he is dangerous behind the counterpunch. In his most recent fight, against Jose Benavidez Jnr, Charlo even looked immune to ring rust (he had been inactive for 29 months), scarcely losing a round. But over the course of his career, he has proven vulnerable to opponents outside the ring, if not inside it.

Charlo has been open about his struggles with mental health keeping him out of the ring in the past and even taking over his life completely. The back-and-forth with LaManna, and his sudden mood swing, did not suggest he has made peace with those struggles.

By way of typical boxing analysis, Charlo offered – before the verbal sparring broke out – that “I expect the best out of Thomas LaManna. I expect the best from him, and I’ll be ready to make any adjustments.” Charlo believes that his latest 18 months of inactivity have been beneficial to his career and life, even if his performance at the press conference didn’t make that evident.

LaManna, 39-5-1 (18 KOs), tried to provoke Charlo one last time before Flores moved on to Caleb Plant and Armando Resendiz, another bout on the card. “Make sure you show up,” LaManna said repeatedly, referring to Charlo failing to be ready for earlier scheduled dates for the fight.

“Shut up, bitch,” Charlo responded. “I’mma knock your ass out.”

Owen Lewis is a former intern at Defector media and writes and edits for BoxingScene. His beats are tennis, boxing, books, travel and anything else that satisfies his meager attention span. He is on Bluesky.