Anthony Tyrone Thompson (born October 18, 1971) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2016. He challenged twice for the unified heavyweight title in 2008 and 2012. Described by many observers and fighters as stylistically "awkward", Thompson was ranked by The Ring as the ninth best heavyweight in the world at the end of 2007 (April 2008 issue).
Early life Tony Thompson was born on October 8, 1971, in Washington, D.C., and has 10 siblings. Both his parents were drug addicts. Tony and his only full-blood brother Keith, who was about 10 months older, grew up in an orphanage before they were taken to the foster home at pre-school age. The brothers spent most of their youth in Southeast, D.C., frequently moving from one relative to another, before members of child and family services took them back to the orphanage. Their mother had visited them there twice before dying of an HIV infection, while the father spent most of their lives in jail. When Tony and Keith were in first grade, they were legally adopted by their paternal grandmother and lived with her family until she died of a heart attack at the age of 54. After their grandmother died, Tony and Keith returned to foster care, then went to live with one of their aunts and her two sons in D.C. public housing. They eventually had a falling out with their aunt, and Tony moved in with his girlfriend Sydnee. He was a father by age 17, and him and Keith never finished high school. According to Keith, the main things that helped them to survive were having each other and law abidance.
The brothers were separated from each other in their 20s, when Keith joined the army. He would frequently send Tony money earned in the military to support him. At the age of 23, Tony Thompson became a police officer, fulfilling what he has called "his childhood dream". He was released from his job after an altercation with a member of the police, which resulted in the mentioned member having his ankle broken. According to Thompson, "[I] picked him off his feet, and threw him out the door". Soon after, Thompson relocated to the Maryland suburbs, and eventually found work as a counselor at the National Children’s Center.
Amateur career
(Tony Thompson, shortly after defeating David Price in what was considered a huge upset)
Thompson took up boxing at the age of 26, after meeting his car insurance agent, Gene Molowsky, who had a boxing gym in the back of his office. When recalling the memory, Gene said: "I saw this big six-foot-six, 250-pound guy. I figured, man — this is the heavyweight I’ve been waiting for." By Thompson's own admission, he believed that starting with boxing at a relatively late age preserved him, because an average person has to let the body develop before getting into physical sports like boxing or american football. Thompson went 13-3 as an amateur before turning pro in 2000.
Professional career 2000–2004: Beginnings Thompson made his professional debut at 28 years old on January 27, 2000, defeating DeShaun Harper by majority decision. He earned $300 for his first fight, which allowed him to cover household electric bill that month. In the early years of his professional career, Thompson was still doing regular 9-to-5 jobs alongside boxing, as Thompson viewed boxing as a source of a supplemental income. He often trained in the gym early in the morning before the start of a full work day. By Thompson's own admission, he soon started viewing boxing as something more than "just a side gig" after piling up a couple of wins: "I won a couple of fights, but I knew I could be a lot better". On May 20, 2001, Thompson faced local hard-hitting prospect Chester Hughes, who had a 9–0 record (6 KOs) coming into the bout. It was the first fight in which Thompson faced someone who was both taller and had longer reach than himself. He won the bout by first-round TKO.
Overall, Thompson had eight fights in 2000 and six in 2001, building up a record of 13 wins and a single decision loss, before facing his first notable opponent, Marion Wilson. Despite having a record of 11 wins, 36 losses and 3 draws, Wilson was recognized for his durability, having never been stopped in his entire career and occasionally pulling upsets, such as wins over Corey Sanders and Paea Wolfgramm or split draw against Ray Mercer. Thompson won the bout by a lopsided unanimous decision, with scores 58–49, 57–49 and 58–49.
On August 31, 2002, Thompson was scheduled to face hard-hitting Ron Guerrero, who was looking to regain his stock after back-to-back losses to Attila Levin and Jeremy Williams. The fight was scheduled for five rounds. Thompson was declared the winner by unanimous decision (UD), with scores 50–45, 49–46 and 50–45. On October 20, 2002, Thompson faced another notable opponent, an experienced journeyman Zuri Lawrence. Lawrence was on a six-fight winning streak, coming off of an upset victory over undefeated Italian prospect Paolo Vidoz. Thompson won the bout by seventh-round TKO.
The Thunderbox The back-to-back wins over Guerrero and Lawrence allowed Thompson to participate in Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament on November 30, 2002, promoted by Cedric Kushner. The tournament consisted of eight participants, which included two-time world heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon, former and future world heavyweight title challengers Derrick Jefferson, Ray Austin and Jeremy Williams, experienced journeyman Maurice Harris, who had entered the tournament after knocking out future world champion Siarhei Liakhovich, and undefeated, hard-hitting Gerald Nobles. Each boxer, including Thompson, was guaranteed $5,000 and the purse for the tournament winner was $100,000. All bouts took place at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and were scheduled for three rounds. The bouts were aired on Eurosport in the UK and on In-Demand pay-per-view in the United States. In the first round, Thompson faced Jeremy Williams. The bout was scored a draw, with Thompson being declared the winner due to landing more punches. In semifinals, Thompson defeated Derrick Jefferson on points, and advanced to the final. Thompson wasn't able to claim the $100,000 prize, as he was soundly beaten by Maurice Harris.
2004-2007: Title Contention On March 27, 2004, Thompson faced undefeated Cuban heavyweight Yanqui Díaz in a fight scheduled for eight rounds. With a record of 8–0 with 6 KOs, Díaz was a highly regarded prospect due to his long and decorated amateur career, with prominent boxing manager Wes Wolfe predicting a bright future for Díaz in the heavyweight division, expecting him to become "a superstar among the Cubans". Thompson handed Díaz his first professional career loss, winning the bout by a wide unanimous decision, with scores 78–72, 77–73 and 79–71. Shortly after, Thompson agreed to face former world title challenger Vaughn Bean on September 11, 2004. It was Thompson's second bout that took place outside of the United States. 30-year old Bean, mostly known for his competitive bouts against Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer and having only been stopped by Vitali Klitschko, had won 13 of his last 14 fights against mostly lackluster opposition coming into the bout, and was described by some observers as "fringe contender". The bout lasted full ten rounds, with Thompson being declared the winner by unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 97–93 (twice) and 96–94. At the conclusion of 2004, Thompson was ranked No.7 heavyweight in the world by BoxRec.
After winning another couple of fights, Thompson signed to face Dominick Guinn on March 18, 2006, in San Jose, California. Once described as a "hot prospect" and viewed as one of the top-rising American heavyweight contenders, Guinn was looking to return to the heavyweight title contention after losses to James Toney, Siarhei Liakhovich and Monte Barrett. Many observers viewed Thompson fight as an opportunity for Guinn to follow up on his win over Audley Harrison. The fight was the main event of the card aired live on ESPN2 as part of the Wednesday Night Fights series. It was the first 12-round bout in Thompson's career. The first half of the fight was competitive, with Guinn aggressively coming forward, while Thompson fought behind the jab, landing cleaner punches. By the sixth round, Guinn started showing signs of fatigue. Thompson dominated the second half of the fight, patiently stalking tired Guinn and gradually accumulating the damage, hurting him on several occasions. Ultimately, Thompson was declared the winner by unanimous decision (UD), with scores 118–111, 119–109 and 117–111. Thompson's wife Sydnee later claimed that she had heard Guinn talking to his trainer, Joe Goossen, in the dressing room after the fight, with Guinn saying: "[Tony Thompson]’s nothing like the videos we watched. This guy is good".
A high-profile win over Guinn appeared to have elevated Thompson's stock. After staying inactive for almost eight months (the longest stretch of inactivity in Thompson's career up to that date), he faced Uzbekistani heavyweight prospect Timur Ibragimov on February 16, 2007. Ibragimov was coming off of a decision loss to Calvin Brock, and viewed the Thompson bout as an opportunity to return to the heavyweight title picture. The bout took place at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Thompson's camp came to the bout unprepared – someone had stolen Thompson's shoes, and he had to borrow a pair of basketball shoes from a Fox Sports Network producer. Thompson dominated Ibragimov, working behind the jab and gradually stepping up his aggression. The bout went the distance, with Thompson being declared the winner by unanimous decision, with scores 97–93 (twice) and 99–91. After the bout, Thompson called out Sultan Ibragimov: "[Sultan Ibragimov] keeps talking about looking for a worthy opponent, but doesn't do anything with it. He wants to fight for the interim title, but avoids fights with worthy opposition". After the win, Thompson entered WBA heavyweight rankings at No.12, and IBF rankings at No.13.
The win over Timur Ibragimov lined him up against popular German boxer Luan Krasniqi in a WBO world heavyweight title eliminator on July 14, 2007. Krasniqi, who was 36 years old coming into the bout, was looking to return to the heavyweight title contention after a loss to Lamon Brewster, with German media expecting him to "fulfill his destiny" and become only the second world heavyweight champion from Germany after Max Schmeling. The fight took place at Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, and was aired on ZDF. This was the first Thompson's bout that took place outside of North America. Thompson appeared to have the upper hand from the opening bell, frequently having Krasniqi pressed against the ropes and going back-and-forth between combinations to the head and body. In the third round, Thompson fractured Krasniqi's ribs. Inbetween the fourth and fifth rounds, the referee warned Krasniqi that he would stop the fight if Krasniqi continued absorbing punishment without firing back. Thompson continued his assault on Krasniqi in the fifth, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Krasniqi later described the fight as "the darkest moment of his career": "I'm still ashamed for what happened that night. I still can't explain it. I was stumbling around like I was drunk. My failure made [Tony Thompson] a star."