I'm not all that familiar with Thompson, but it looks to me as if he was the type of guy who did fine against lesser fighters, but for the most part, lost when he stepped it up to the contender level. His biggest wins, it seems, are over an old Arturo Godoy, and a KO over Elmer Ray, who wasn't known for the greatest chin. He drew with Abe Simon, who was one of Joe Louis' "bum of the month" opponents. All in all not a record which seems to indicate that he would at all be competitive with "The Big Cat," who faced some of the best in the late 50s and early 60s, and did beat a few of them. That said, I would certainly remain open to more information on Thompson which might indicate otherwise.
I will buck the trend and go with Thompson. He was better proven against world class oposition and did just fine against much larger opponents.
Tomphson beat a far deeper body of world class fighters for whatever that is worth. Buddy Knox Pat Valentino Gus Dorazio Elmer Ray Eddie Blunt Johny Haynes Arturo Godoy Lee Q Murray Williams for contrast has- Omilio Agramonte John Holman Wayne Bethea Earnie Terrel
IMO Williams size and pysical strength would give Thompson some problems, but the difference in this matchup would be the chin, Williams had at the best a mediocre one, Thompson´s chin was iron, Turkey would knock him out in the midrounds... Thompson TKO 7 Williams
Let's not forget he also beat Gus Dorazio and Lee Q. Murray. The "bum of the month" title is misleading- Simon was a solid contender. Really- what "few" are you talking about? Because the only top 10 fighter Williams ever beat was Terrell(who he lost to in the rematch). Williams is horribly overrated, in my opinion. The absolute peak accomplishments of his career are going 1-1 with Terrell and drawing with Machen. He lost every other time he ever fought a serious contender. He's an individual who, in his historical standing, is much, much longer on hype than on substance. I suppose I would lean towards him to outpoint Thompson, but it could easily go either way.
I have all of Turkey Thompson's fights on DVD and I have about 45 Cleveland Williams fights on DVD. For about the past 15 years now I have studied and analysed these two's styles, strengths and weakness and pondered this very match up almost on a weekly basis. It's a close call and after spending a year or two researching all their opponents and interviewing sparring partners and cross-checking the findings with the slow-motion viewing of their fights and calculating the average slip and duck rates, and punch stats combined with scientically estimated PSI readings for their punch impact I have come to the conclusion that theses two would fight a draw or disputed decision over 10 with 8 ounce gloves under 1950 NYSAC rules. Of course, the only other possible results are a KO 2 for Cleveland Williams with Thompson being counted out with 26 seconds remaining in the round or a TKO9 win for Turkey Thompson, with Williams being stopped due to gruesome cuts and swellings on left cheek and above left eye.
