Tweet
A real knockout
Rockford's Thompson has nine KOs, super welerweight title at age 24
Skylar Thompson’s first and best influence was his father.
Stanley Thompson, a former club boxer, often watched old boxing movies and spent a lot of time in the gym. It wasn’t long until Skylar discovered that he liked boxing too.
In fact, he loves it.
“It’s something you can’t coach or teach. It comes natural,” said the 24-year-old Rockford native. “I have the heart and the skills to go along with it.”
That heart and those skills have carried him to a title. Thompson won the World Boxing Bureau Championship in January in just his eighth professional fight. He defeated David Brewer by technical knockout at White Rock Boxing Gym in Columbia, S.C.
His next fight produced his biggest payday yet of $6,000. Thompson defeated Jonathan Bruce by technical knockout at the Plex in North Charleston, S.C.
He expects to sign with Golden Boy Promotions, run by Oscar De La Hoya, by the end of the year.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Thompson said. “I have been fighting often. They (people in the business) said I have the highest knockout percentage of any fighter or champion in the past five years. I think that is a blessing. I just have a natural power that is a gift from God.”
Jimmy Goodman Sr. believes Thompson could be the next big thing. Goodman, a retired amateur trainer, trained Thompson for 10 years. In 30 years as a trainer, he helped coach several of the area’s greatest boxers, including 1988 Olympic bronze medalist Kenny Gould and current fighter Talmadge Griffis.
“If they don’t overmatch him, he will be all right,” Goodman said. “Skylar is a young guy and he has all kinds of potential. He could probably be the best one. He’s just got to knuckle down and stay in good shape.”
Thompson is 11-0 with nine knockouts. His next bout is July 11 in Memphis, Tenn., although his opponent hasn’t been announced.
“I know I will be ready to fight whomever they line me up with,” said Thompson, who suffered a hand injury in his fight against Brewer and was out for five months.
Thompson has faced challenges in getting his pro career on track since leaving Rockford last September. He turned pro in October and was managed for a short time by Joe Linenfelser Sr., formerly of Durand, whose son Joe became the youngest licensed pro boxer in the nation. Thompson cut ties with Linenfelser when he moved to Memphis, where his father, Stanley Thompson, resides. He joined promoter Jerome Peete, but after six months, Thompson said he discovered mismanagement with his earnings and endorsements and quickly sought the aid of his current manager, Willie Knox.
“I just want to make a statement,” Thompson said. “I have a lot to prove, like coming from a little small city to where nobody has really seen me that often. The boxing world is trying to figure out who is this boxing kid. So when I got with Willie Knox, he said, ‘We don’t throw our fighters out to the wolves.’ He said, ‘We will take your career and guide it in the right way’.
“He has led me in the right direction and things are better than what they were.”
Rockford's Thompson has nine KOs, super welerweight title at age 24
Skylar Thompson’s first and best influence was his father.
Stanley Thompson, a former club boxer, often watched old boxing movies and spent a lot of time in the gym. It wasn’t long until Skylar discovered that he liked boxing too.
In fact, he loves it.
“It’s something you can’t coach or teach. It comes natural,” said the 24-year-old Rockford native. “I have the heart and the skills to go along with it.”
That heart and those skills have carried him to a title. Thompson won the World Boxing Bureau Championship in January in just his eighth professional fight. He defeated David Brewer by technical knockout at White Rock Boxing Gym in Columbia, S.C.
His next fight produced his biggest payday yet of $6,000. Thompson defeated Jonathan Bruce by technical knockout at the Plex in North Charleston, S.C.
He expects to sign with Golden Boy Promotions, run by Oscar De La Hoya, by the end of the year.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Thompson said. “I have been fighting often. They (people in the business) said I have the highest knockout percentage of any fighter or champion in the past five years. I think that is a blessing. I just have a natural power that is a gift from God.”
Jimmy Goodman Sr. believes Thompson could be the next big thing. Goodman, a retired amateur trainer, trained Thompson for 10 years. In 30 years as a trainer, he helped coach several of the area’s greatest boxers, including 1988 Olympic bronze medalist Kenny Gould and current fighter Talmadge Griffis.
“If they don’t overmatch him, he will be all right,” Goodman said. “Skylar is a young guy and he has all kinds of potential. He could probably be the best one. He’s just got to knuckle down and stay in good shape.”
Thompson is 11-0 with nine knockouts. His next bout is July 11 in Memphis, Tenn., although his opponent hasn’t been announced.
“I know I will be ready to fight whomever they line me up with,” said Thompson, who suffered a hand injury in his fight against Brewer and was out for five months.
Thompson has faced challenges in getting his pro career on track since leaving Rockford last September. He turned pro in October and was managed for a short time by Joe Linenfelser Sr., formerly of Durand, whose son Joe became the youngest licensed pro boxer in the nation. Thompson cut ties with Linenfelser when he moved to Memphis, where his father, Stanley Thompson, resides. He joined promoter Jerome Peete, but after six months, Thompson said he discovered mismanagement with his earnings and endorsements and quickly sought the aid of his current manager, Willie Knox.
“I just want to make a statement,” Thompson said. “I have a lot to prove, like coming from a little small city to where nobody has really seen me that often. The boxing world is trying to figure out who is this boxing kid. So when I got with Willie Knox, he said, ‘We don’t throw our fighters out to the wolves.’ He said, ‘We will take your career and guide it in the right way’.
“He has led me in the right direction and things are better than what they were.”