Considered by many as the gatekeeper during the Klitschko era. Where would Thompson rank in this current heavyweight landscape?
Probably about the same. He was a late starter but a tall southpaw and fairly crafty guy. Not champ material but would derail some prospects. The version that fought Wlad the first time was good enough to beat guys like Whyte, Dubois etc.
After both Ko's of Price, Thompson repeatedly called out Fury. Instead Fury opted for Minnesota club fighter, Joey Abell. Price and Fury had been supposed to fight for a Brit belt before Thompson ko'd Price. Chalk up a couple early blatant ducks for Fury.
He'd be just a gate keeper again. Yes he was an awkward southpaw but he lacked the tools to really be a serious threat to any of the top guys now. He wasn't particularly quick, he wasn't a big puncher, he was just solid and you need more to be a contender even in this era. He could probably upset some guys like Yoka, Ajagba etc but he wouldn't beat Joyce, Wilder or Hrgovic let alone Usyk or Fury.
He would be a solid mid tier guy, round about where he was in his own era. I had a weird respect for Thompson when he was fighting. He was so spectacularly average, or even below average, in every way yet still managed to win fights against some fairly solid opposition. It really made me aware that there was more to boxing than just the standard metrics of speed, power, workrate etc. Thompson vs Ruiz (John) would have been a really intriguing fight, in a terribly boring way.
Well Wallin is supposed to be a great in this era so i'd have to imagine that 'The Tiger' would be a serious player in this era due to being able to do everything Wallin can in the southpaw stance but much better.
After seeing how Wallin did against Fury, is it any surprise Fury picked Minnesota club fighter Joey Abell over Thompson??
Thompson was garbage,and a good indicator of how weak the heavyweight scene was at the time. The top guys never got any better because they just padded their records with bums waiting to be a mandatory for Klitschko to knock over. Thompson was tall, and that was about it. You look at him and he had absolutely nothing else special about him. He'd probably be about the same level today, probably a bit lower. There's a few more decent fighters at the top than there used to be, but we still have the problem of fighters not fighting each other.
Hes underrated, top 5 today. Un my opinión he only would lose with Fury and Usyk. Close rights with Joyce, Ruiz ir, Wilder and Joshua, and easily beat the rest
Well he got spanked by Ortiz, albeit when he was pretty old. Decent fighter but he wouldn't easily beat guys like Hrgovic, Anderson, Sanchez, in fact I'm not sure he beats them at all. He had a hard enough time with Price the 2nd fight.
He sucked back then, would suck now. If prime Usyk & prime Belly were around back then, Waldorf would be the reigning champ either.
Thompson is way worse than Wallin who isn't bad at all and was not even a gatekeeper, just a boxing bag for everyone who needed one. Where would Tony be in the current era - maybe top 30 to top 40.