Tony Thompson Joins The Mix As A Heavyweight Player
By Michael Woods June 29th, 2006Thompson sticks it to the Southern Disaster in San Jose
Gentlemen and ladies, there is a new player in the heavyweight division.
Based on his performance in San Jose on Wednesday evening against Dominick Guinn, you must add Tony Thompson into your top ten mix.
OK, I hear you. I’m not getting overexcited here.
Guinn, the Southern Disaster, looked like a man ready for a change of vocational scenery during his performance broadcast on ESPN2.
But the 6-5 1/2 inch tall Thompson (28-1, 17 KOs) has now won 24 straight fights, weighed 12 pounds less than he has as a pro, and does the basics quite well.
Plus, he’s got some of the nuances down as well. Watch him on tape or TiVo and you’ll see that he punches, and then a la Klitschko, he pushes off with his glove to give himself time to vacate after he delivers. He knows it all starts with the jab, and maintains his breathing well during heated action, proving himself to be a superbly conditioned athlete with a solid workrate.
Thompson, a 34-year-old Maryland native, won a unanimous decision over the 31-year-old Guinn (26-4-1), whose haunted stare after the judges deemed him the loser spoke volumes.
Guinn’s eyes looked as unfocused as his battle plan; he rarely initiated contact, and as Teddy Atlas opined in his close, seems destined to move on from the sport.
(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)
June 29th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Guinn looked like a stiff last night. He didn’t want to be there. His career is over.
June 29th, 2006 at 8:38 am
I first saw Guinn on a double header from Little Rock with it’s favourite son (excluding Bill), Jermaine Taylor, a few years back. Both were excedingly impressive from a first view, but Guinn was the one I went off researching and emailing articles to my friends in the UK proclaimining him to be the next big thing. Boy how wrong can you be. Thankfully I picked up on Cotto around the same time so I only look a semi mug (or a mug half full). He really should move on now and close the book on a lost career.
June 29th, 2006 at 8:44 am
Saw the fight. TT looked very good and used his height very well. This guy can move in and out, moves his hands and has some decent defense.
In fact this was not a boring fight at all. Clinching was not a issue. I will like to see TT fight again. Cocerning Quinn….he is done!
June 29th, 2006 at 10:11 am
I didn’t see the fight but, I heard that Goosen had Quinn moving into the to his right which plays right into tony t’s left cross. Foolish move. You would think a seasoned trainer would know better than that. Teddy Atlas questioned and challenged Goosen on that strategy. Now we see the end result. Give Quinn credit for following instructions and give Goosen credit for sending his soldier out there with the wrong tools and to be defeated. Chinyelu of the honeycomb boxing gym baltimore, maryland
June 29th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
From what a lot of insiders say, Thompson is late bloomer who has a lot of talent. That was evident last night. He can jab well, moves well, has good range and can punch. What I liked best is that he punched with power late in the fight - especially in his right hook. You don’t see many southpaws with a good right hook, but he had Guinn as dazed as I’ve ever seen him (and Guinn, to his credit, has a good chin).
Thompson needs to make his move now, though. Maybe an HBO fight with a Monte Barrett or Fres Oquendo, then go after the Rahman-Maskaev winner (who I think he’d have a good chance against). After all, Liekovich got his title shot against Brewster solely on his much closer points win over Guinn a couple years ago.