English underdog Jordan Thompson is not only confident of springing an upset this weekend, but he believes he can become a factor in the heavyweight division.
Thompson has not boxed since an unsuccessful challenge of Jai Opetaia for his IBF cruiserweight title in September 2023. The heavy-hitting Australian stopped him in four one-sided rounds, and on Saturday Thompson will move up to heavyweight to face unbeaten Cuban prospect Lenier Pero in Orlando, Florida, at the Caribe Royale.
Thompson is now 15-1 (12 KOs) and he has been out for some time following hand surgery. Now trained by Don Charles, Thompson said his passion for boxing has returned.
“It’s the same me, but just a good few pounds added,” said the 32-year-old Thompson. “I don’t think I had to change a lot – just subtle changes within myself and the inner circle – but the confidence hasn’t gone, that’s for sure. I feel healthy, I’ve not gone through a mad transformation or done anything extraordinary. I’ve just cut out the extraordinarily stupid things I was doing to make cruiserweight. I don’t know how I made the weight for the Opetaia fight, to be honest, and the IBF second-day weigh-in rule made it harder as having to sleep at that treacherous weight was hard, especially going in there with someone of that caliber. So as the fights went up in quality, I knew I was only going to get away with that weight to a certain level. But you have to roll the dice when you get chances like that. I don’t think I’d have forgiven myself if I’d have passed on that opportunity.”
Thompson was previously being trained by Tony Sims.
“I’m just grateful to be back at all," Thompson said. "When you get boxing taken away from, you it’s hard, not even being able to go to the gym, and you learn a lot about yourself and valuing boxing even more.
“Not a lot of people knew that I had surgery; some people thought I had even retired. Sometimes the less said, the better. There’s not much to be said. We live and learn from the last fight and be accountable where we can be accountable and make changes moving forward. There was never a time that not coming back crossed my mind, and that was the most frustrating thing about the surgery, as I was not able to jump straight back on the horse. But it is what it is. I’ve got great people around me, and we’re back, and we’re headlining in Florida with Matchroom, and I’m very appreciative of that.
“I’m a very simple person. I got offered two fights against two unbeaten southpaws. I thought, ‘OK, they are both a risk, but which is the biggest reward?’ So let’s roll the dice. It’s an educated roll of the dice, as I trust my team and they trust me, so it’s exciting.
“It’s a different game being a heavyweight, so it’s about being adaptable. And I think we’ve got a lot of bases covered.”
Pero, a 32-year-old southpaw is 12-0 (8 KOs).
“I’m not downplaying Pero – definitely not," Thompson said. "But I’ve just been focusing on myself, what I possess, what tools I have in the arsenal and sharpening them and making sure I’m ready to go on Saturday."
