Information on Albert "Turkey" Thompson?

I've never seen him on film. Does anyone know what kind of style he had? He was obviously a big hitter.

Has good wins over Godoy (decision, had an iron jaw), Valentino (TKO), Ray (TKO), Murray (TKO on cuts). Unlike a lot of punchers, he seems to retain his KO-percentage against better opposition. This suggests he had pretty good punching technique/delivery, instead of merely being heavy handed.

He did lose a lot of fights and seems to be somewhat inconsistent. Perhaps a limited puncher after all, despite his high knockout percentage against rated opposition? From his record, he seems to be extremely durable. Only stopped twice in his entire career, once when he may have risen too late for the count and once in his last pro fight. The first fight with Ray was a bit fishy according to Marciano_Frazier, but even so he is very durable.


I also remember reading he fought an exhibition fight with Joe Louis in the mid to late 40's , but i can't find any source on that, maybe i am mistaken.


Does anyone have a picture of him?

 

Thompson had an agressive style. I read some of his news clipings a while back. He wasn't very durable and tended to get winded. Strong puncher.

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You seem to know about as much about him already as I do. The 1976 Ring record book has an extensive list of Louis exhibitions and Thompson is not on it.

I have never seen a film of Thompson, but he was short, 5' 8" or so, stoutly built at over 200 lbs for most of his career. He had big league power early but his record indicates he could be outboxed and seemed to tire. He does not seem to have carried his power well into the later rounds. I assume he was an aggressive puncher somewhat along the lines of Joe Frazier, but I have never seen film of him.

I think there is a tendency to undervalue his performances against Ray. From March 1, 1940 to March 1, 1947, Ray fought 67 times, two of which where against Thompson. He won all the other 65 bouts, 55 by knockout, one of the most impressive runs in boxing history. Included were a win over future lineal champion Walcott and a knockout of future alphabet champion Savold.
After losing a majority decision to Walcott on March 1, 1947, Ray went on another 7 bout winning streak, including a victory over another future champion, Ezzard Charles.
So, from March 1940 into May 1948, a period of over eight years, Ray fought 75 fights, two of which were against Thompson. He won 72 of the other 73, losing only the one decision to a future champion, and scored 61 knockouts, with wins over Walcott and Charles and a crushing knockout of Savold. That is the record of a top ten ATG, not a mere contender.

But the two fights with Thompson are the fly in the ointment. The first was a six round no decision in which Ray was ahead but dropped by a low blow and chose to claim a foul and not continue. Under the rules of the time, this meant that Ray was abjuring any chance of winning the fight. Some view this result as proving Ray the superior man, but without film, I have doubts about what exactly happened. Ray might have been hurt so badly by a low blow he could not go on, or the fight might have been much tougher than is implied with Ray already having taken enough punishment to create doubts about his prevailng if the fight continued.
There is no issue with the rematch. Thompson knocked Ray down twice in the first round. Ray was counted out. It was not a TKO.

It is interesting to speculate where Ray would rate if he had never fought Thompson.

 

Thompson was certainly a strong puncher. He does appear to have gassed after the early rounds to some extent.

But why wasn't he durable? He was stopped only twice in 72 fights, once in a comback attempt in his last fight, and earlier by Al Hart. The description of the Hart fight indicates he was legitimately dropped but appeared to be unhurt and was taking the count before getting up, but somehow got up a split second too late. Of course, he might have been stunned worse than observers thought, but still only two knockouts in over seventy fights is not bad. If Thompson isn't durable, who is? given the number of tough men he fought.

 

Here is a brief biography of Thompson by Herb Goldman:
"Albert (Turkey) Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma on December 25, 1919. He always had a huge chest. His schoolmates called him 'Turkey chest' and the nickname was eventually shortened to 'Turkey.'
"Thompson worked in the cotton fields between school hours. His cousin, later known as Big Boy Bray, lived in the same town. Bray decided that he wanted to be a boxer and lit out for Los Angeles. Turkey followed soon after.
"Thompson started boxing as an amateur in L.A. under the tutelage of Young Peter Jackson, the lightweight. When, in 1938, Turk turned pro, his trainer was Charley Williams, who made him shed his southpaw style and box in the 'orthodox' fashion.
"After a few fights, Babe McCoy and Wirt Ross sold Turkey's contract to Cal Working, manager of Baby Arizmendi. Working made the Turk into a promising middleweight contender. Thompson, though, grew rapidly. He was a 5'8 1/2" 205-pound heavyweight by 1941, the year he boxed a ten-round draw with big Abe Simon. Turkey hit the peak of hi scareer during the war years. He kayoed Henry Cooper, Pat Valentino, Gus Dorazio, Elmer (Violent) Ray, and Big Ben Moroz. His biggest defeat came when Al Hart knocked him out in one round in L.A. on Sept. 19, 1944. After a dry period, Turk bounced back to score four kayoes in succession in 1949- Bill Peterson (2), Lee Q. Murray (6), Hart (2) and Al Spaulding. He quit the ring after losing four decisions in a row the following year."

 

Thompson was a strong dangerous fighter with a heavy left hook. Ray deserved a DQ win in the first match when he beat the **** out of Thompson for 6 rounds, it was a robbery. I rate Turkey below Lee Q murray.

 

Bumping this thread to see if anyone can tell us more about the Turkey.

Seems like a strange bird, but not prone to fowls as he was never DQ’d — although he did have that one fight with Elmer Ray that ended in a no contest after Ray was unable (or unwilling) to continue after a low blow.

He gobbled up some pretty good names in his time. What can anyone here add to give us more perspective?

 

Thompson-Ray 1

“Turkey Thompson still wore his crown today after a match with a tough Floridian named Elmer Ray, who punched his better known opponent around the ring for six rounds only to have Referee Lee Ramage atop the bout with no decision after Ray had been fouled twice," - The Modesto Bee August 10th, 1943.

“ Ray had won all five rounds and was out in front in the sixth when he was hurt by a lowblow and Ramage stopped the bout."-Fresno Bee Republican

I don't know about you, but it sounds to me like Ray was pretty badly ripped off in this fight. Under many commissions, I would expect that to be a DQ win for him.

 

Thompson-Ray II

“Turkey Thompson, 203, Los Ange-
les defense worker, needed only
two left hooks and less than throe
minutes of the first round to hang
up his 43rd victory In 47 prizefights.

The husky Negro, whose home
town is Apadarko, Okla,, knocked
out Elmer Ray, 188, of Hastings,
Fla., in that brief but colorful period
of their scheduled I0 round
bout before 9,000 spectators last
night, Thompson and Ray were
rematched after their fight in San
Diego, Calif., two weeks ago ended
in a no-contest decision because of
an allegedly low blow by Thompson.
The first left hook to the jaw
put Ray down for a count of nine
after two minutes and 20 seconds
of the initial roundi. Twenty-nine
seconds later another left hook,
similarly placed, ended the fight."

 

Those were apparently the rules of the day in the jurisdiction where they fought. Just like even in the 1970s (and perhaps beyond), you’ll see some fights where TKOs were awarded to a fighter who was behind on the scorecards when his opponent sustains a cut on an accidental butt … they considered it a cuts stoppage same as if the cut was caused by a punch. You accept the ruleset when you accept the fight.

Generally, a second serious low blow infraction these days would bring a point deduction.

I’m not 100% sure (and it may vary from commission to commission depending on the ruleset of the state or sanctioning body) but I think nowadays the fighter who is fouled is expected to continue after a rest period or the other guy wins. I could be wrong, but I want to say I’ve seen that scenario before (or maybe it was commentators explaining what would happen if a fighter declined to continue after the rest period to shake off the low blow).

Regardless, Elmer seems to have been getting the better of it from every account I’ve seen.

 

I only know of the name cause he fought Ol' Elmer, but he does seem to be a pretty formidable dude.

 

Admit it - you bumped this thread just as an excuse to make this pun.

 

The great John McGlothlin said that Louis ducked Turkey Thompson, who am I to question the greatest mind in boxing?

 

Some would argue that Louis not fighting Turkey was indeed a duck, but I wouldn't want to pigeon hole Louis by simply parroting someone else's claim that he was a chicken.

 

Thanks. Giving me this reply made my night.

Owl be anxiously awaiting our next exchange of posts.