Comments Thread For: One More Round For Heavyweight Tony Thompson

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Thomas Gerbasi - Imagine a world where 40-year old Tony Thompson is THE heavyweight champion of the world, the man who defeated Wladimir Klitschko and brought the most glamorous title in boxing back to the United States.

Would it be Buster Douglas-esque to see such a thing happen this Saturday in Berne, Switzerland? Maybe to boxing diehards, and maybe to those outside of the US, but not to the general sporting public that treats the heavyweight championship of the world as something that disappeared along with Ali, Tyson, and Holyfield.

But who cares what those who don’t care about boxing think about what happens in our insular little community? For me, Saturday holds the possibility that something special may occur in a sport that could use all the special moments it can get, one not tainted by performance enhancing drugs, jail sentences being served by the best boxer in the world, or all the other distractions that have a habit of taking away from what happens in the ring. [Click Here To Read More]

[damned1974]

The title says it all-ONE MORE ROUND....that's probably about how long it will last.lol

[Tmann400]

Great article. I understand to an extent peoples points about this fight being stupid. Yes, Thompson lost by stoppage the first time around. But, I think alot of people, fans, writers and bookies are reading too much into this fight on paper. But, if you take the time to re-watch the first fight with a non-biased viewpoint, you will see this wasn't the one sided slaughter-fest so many have made it out to be.

Thompson was not only in the fight for the vast majority of it, he was pushing Klitschko, landed some very nice body shots, decent clean straight lefts and right hooks to the body and head, and not only was he outworking Klitschko for a lot of the fight, he had out-landed Klitschko 150-121, and had a better connect rate then Klitschko as well, landing at 37%. And was the first fighter in Wladimir Klitschko's ENTIRE career to land more then 18 punches on him in a single round. But, Tony not only did it in one round, he did it for a few rounds in a row. Yet Tony is a "bum".

Once again, yes Thompson indeed ultimately lost the fight, but given all these things I've just mentioned, what exactly makes this SO bad and pointless as people are making it out to be? As of right NOW, I literally can't think of anyone in the division who would give Klitschko a better challenge. As this writer mentioned, Mitchell and Fury are nowhere near ready for this level, and the same thing goes for the other decent prospects. Povetkin has been ducking and dodging Wlad for years more or less, and given his size and how poor he's looked lately it's hard to imagine him being that big of a challenge.

Another thing people have been harping on about, Thompson's age. Yes, he IS 40 years old. But, that number is deceiving. Thompson didn't even start boxing until he was 28 years old. He's only been boxing for 12 years, that sounds like a long time but it's really not especially given how late he started. Yet, no one really thinks or mentions of Wladimir's age. Wladimir has been just a professional fighter alone for 16 years, and that's not counting all his time in the amateurs. He is now 36 years old, and is heading into his 61st professional fight. IMO, he was actually at his physical peak when he first fought Thompson, at 32 years of age. I believe he's coming down from his peak now, given he's heading into his late 30's, and has been fighting for so long at this level. Your body will eventually slow down.

I'm not saying Thompson is going to go out there and win the fight, and I'm not saying Klitschko will go out there and dominate, but what I am saying, is that people are making too many assumptions and looking at this fight on paper way, way too much. This fight will be much tougher then people are thinking.

[nycsmooth]

can't understand what qualifies TT 4 another shot unless it was the last victory over Mo Harris, a real threat...this division is so void of talent, 2 give a non-deserving 40 yr old a shot sums it up...

[Alx.]

noone else willing to fight wlad, props to tt

[yoz]

My 50m to your 1m Wlad>Thompson.

Anyone?

[hougigo]

Originally Posted by Tmann400

Great article. I understand to an extent peoples points about this fight being stupid. Yes, Thompson lost by stoppage the first time around. But, I think alot of people, fans, writers and bookies are reading too much into this fight on paper. But, if you take the time to re-watch the first fight with a non-biased viewpoint, you will see this wasn't the one sided slaughter-fest so many have made it out to be.

Thompson was not only in the fight for the vast majority of it, he was pushing Klitschko, landed some very nice body shots, decent clean straight lefts and right hooks to the body and head, and not only was he outworking Klitschko for a lot of the fight, he had out-landed Klitschko 150-121, and had a better connect rate then Klitschko as well, landing at 37%. And was the first fighter in Wladimir Klitschko's ENTIRE career to land more then 18 punches on him in a single round. But, Tony not only did it in one round, he did it for a few rounds in a row. Yet Tony is a "bum".

Once again, yes Thompson indeed ultimately lost the fight, but given all these things I've just mentioned, what exactly makes this SO bad and pointless as people are making it out to be? As of right NOW, I literally can't think of anyone in the division who would give Klitschko a better challenge. As this writer mentioned, Mitchell and Fury are nowhere near ready for this level, and the same thing goes for the other decent prospects. Povetkin has been ducking and dodging Wlad for years more or less, and given his size and how poor he's looked lately it's hard to imagine him being that big of a challenge.

Another thing people have been harping on about, Thompson's age. Yes, he IS 40 years old. But, that number is deceiving. Thompson didn't even start boxing until he was 28 years old. He's only been boxing for 12 years, that sounds like a long time but it's really not especially given how late he started. Yet, no one really thinks or mentions of Wladimir's age. Wladimir has been just a professional fighter alone for 16 years, and that's not counting all his time in the amateurs. He is now 36 years old, and is heading into his 61st professional fight. IMO, he was actually at his physical peak when he first fought Thompson, at 32 years of age. I believe he's coming down from his peak now, given he's heading into his late 30's, and has been fighting for so long at this level. Your body will eventually slow down.

I'm not saying Thompson is going to go out there and win the fight, and I'm not saying Klitschko will go out there and dominate, but what I am saying, is that people are making too many assumptions and looking at this fight on paper way, way too much. This fight will be much tougher then people are thinking.

quoted, cuz I read it.... your writing was not for nothing.

[Tmann400]

Originally Posted by hougigo

quoted, cuz I read it.... your writing was not for nothing.

Lol, I appreciate it. I was more so just typing all that out partially to vent, and express my opinion and if anyone happened to read it, cool.

[hougigo]

Originally Posted by Tmann400

Lol, I appreciate it. I was more so just typing all that out partially to vent, and express my opinion and if anyone happened to read it, cool.

I saw a post earlier about how Thompson seemed un-enthusiastic about this fight and his training.
Of course I don't know how much I should trust it because they just joined this month and they said word of mouth.... but, it did plant a seed of doubt. Any word on how his camp went?

[Tmann400]

I'm not part of his camp or anything, so I don't know. I have seen interviews and a video on youtube of him seeing a doctor, the doctor checked his stress levels and his overall health and everything. That summed up with him appearing to be in good shape and coming in the lightest of his career in 5 years, he weighs less then he did in the first fight, pretty much tells me he's taken this very seriously.