School me on Turkey Thompson: How good was this gobbler?

Aha! I stumbled across the holy grail (which is a goblet, not a gobbler) of turkeyness as posted on this forum in 2008 in a thread on the Turk by a user named Marciano Frazier (must not be an active account as I can’t @ him):

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."

 

Of note: He has the first name slightly wrong from all other sources I’ve found (including boxrec) which record him as Elbert (not Albert) Sylvester Thompson.

He was born on Christmas Day, a holiday at which many did then and still do dine on turkey (although his nickname derived from his large chest, which must have puffed out like a Tom Turkey).

This account says he was left-handed and got converted, which jibes with the accounts I’ve seen of his fights that almost always mention him having a terrific left hook.

Boxrec lists him as 5-8 1/2. He started at middleweight, grew into a light heavy and then into a heavyweight, weighing above 200 and often in he 215 range (as heavy as 222 for his loss to Bivins) so I think we’re talking about a guy built like a tank (not a turkey) … but the Associated Press account listed him as 5-11 1/2 when he fought the giant Abe Simon to a draw.