Rainone Talks AC Clash

He is on the NYFGHTS advisory board but his duties in that realm are on hold as he counts down to his Saturday night fight, which will unfold in Atlantic City.

Tommy Rainone is highly regarded within the boxing community for his ring generalship and for the thoughtful analysis he offers in our Pound for Pound list, the next one set to come out in two weeks.

We caught up with Rainone to get a sense of where he is three days out from his scrap.

He's fighting at 147, not at 154, out of his comfort range, where he campaigned in his last tango. Seems like he's making a concerted run to get ranked at 147….

“Let's hope,” said Rainone. “One at a time but I get past this one I got some things in the works for 2016.”

On paper, this should happen, with the Long Islander slated to meet 14-12-1 Maurice Chalmers.

So, anything different about this camp?

“First southpaw in a long time so everything was different but once I got past the initial awkwardness everything began to gel and I actually had fun training for this one,” he said. “A lot of hard and diverse work but training for a southpaw and using the other side of the brain was refreshing and I think much needed to get me up for this fight.”

And check out this lol Facebook post, a reminder that these folks sacrifice mightily for their craft.

Here is a release which touches more on the Rainone fight and the rest of the card.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (March 15, 2016)–This Saturday night at The Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, Long Island based welterweight Tommy Rainone makes his debut on the boardwalk when he battles Maurice Chalmers in a eight round bout in a featured undercard bout of a 11-bout card promoted by Rising Promotions and Vincent M. Ponte's Gulfstream Promotions.

In the main event, Thomas LaManna takes on Kendal Mena in a eight round welterweight bout.

Rainone has a record of 24-7-1 with with five knockouts has long been a fan favorite in the Empire state, and the fight with Chalmers will fulfill a venue that has been on the 36 year-old's bucket list.

“I have fought in Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, The Legendary Blue Horizon and Las Vegas. I have been wanting to fight in Atlantic City for a long time and Saturday it finally happens,” said Rainone.

What makes Rainone's career even more fascinating is that he works a full-time job overnight working for Hilton Hotels in the accounting the department.

That makes for long days, working until the early morning, getting just a few hours of sleep and then going to the gym before his overnight shift.

“I have not had a day off in seven weeks, but I will be ready to go on Saturday night. I have had pretty good training and sparring. Now I am just maintaining my weight ”

In Chalmers, he is facing a veteran who has a record of 14-12-1 with eight knockouts. Chalmers has knocked off three undefeated fighters, but Rainone is confident that his skills and preparation will be enough to get his hand raised.

“I have seen him once in person. He defeated an undefeated guy and he was very aggressive that night. I have seen other fight's where he sits back and is a counter puncher. I prepare for anything.”

Since turning professional in 2006, Rainone has been an instant fan favorite, and he feels he owes a lot of support to the many supporters who have stuck by him through his whole career.

“Without a fan base, you don't get fights. I will have 100 or so fans down in Atlantic City. I owe everything to them.”

Rainone believes his popularity is due large in part to him being just an “everyday guy” and his fans can relate to him.

“I always put on a good fight, but I am relate able. After the fights, I hang out with everybody. I am humble and I show the fans how much I appreciate him.”

In his last bout, Rainone took one of the step up fights that could have set him up for a major opportunity when he took on former junior middleweight champion Ishe Smith.

Rainone came up just short in that fight, but Rainone wanted to test himself against the former world champion.

“That fight was a tall order. Ishe is the bigger man and a former world champion. I am not a junior middleweight. I tried very hard and I knew if I had won that fought, I would have been ranked in the top-ten.”

Rainone is only planning to fight another couple of years and he still has the goals of every fighter, but he is taking his career fight by fight.

“The goal is one fight at a time. I am excited to fight in Atlantic City. I want to fight at Barclays Center and again in Madison Square Square Garden as well fighting for a title back in Atlantic City.”

“I have done this the hard way throughout my career. I do not know who has done it the way I have. I have done this on my own without any alliance or any promoter and I am very proud what I have accomplished and I still have more to do.”