If he were in his prime, can Tony “The Tiger” Thompson hang with today’s heavyweights? How far could he go?
Thompson was underrated, but the division today is also underrated. He'd lose to Fury, Usyk, Wilder, Joyce and Joshua. Live underdog against Sanchez and Hrgovic. He'd be about even money against Ruiz and an old ass Ortiz (Ortiz best Thomspon when Thompson was really old). Slight favorite over current versions of Whyte, Hunter, and Parker. Beats Zhang's ass.
Much the same I suspect. He would beat some men held in high regard today, as others have suggested, but the very best would find answers for him. His wife's hip probably still gets broken at some point!
I don't think Thompson was ever proven at world-level. His best scalp is either of Vaughn Bean, Timur Ibragimov or Chazz Witherspoon. He achieved a Ring-Rating and a shot at Wlad, due to the sheer paucity of HW talent during the Noughties (2008). The same circumstances being apparent in the Teenies, saw Thompson get a second shot at Wlad (2012), which was utterly meritless. Neither were impressive showings. Fast-Forwarding him to the present wouldn't find him achieving any more or less than he did 15 to 20 years ago.
Thompson is one of my favourite interviewees of boxing history. I want to invite him to a cookout one day.
EDIT: To be fair to Thompson, he didn't turn pro until he was in his late 20s, after a very limited Am experience. But, to your point, his level did just seem to run along an even line without much of anything, which might be considered a peak or a trough.
He retired young. Just admit that you either didn’t know who Krasniqi was or forgot, and boxrec warriored your way to that info. Apologize and let’s be done with it.
No. He didn't. Yeah - shocking really... ...Thompson/Krasniqi was such a memorable classic, too. Yes, I do feel sorry for you.
