When Silver Spring, MD native Tony “The Tiger” Thompson fought his first professional fight at the advanced age of 28, he could only imagine what it would be like to be among the top ranked heavyweight boxers in the world. 

 

After disarming and dismantling highly regarded heavyweight Dominick Guinn with a dominant performance a week ago on ESPN2’s “Wednesday Night Fights,” the now-34 year old veteran (28-1, 17 KOs) needn’t wonder anymore.

 

“Tony has taken a wild ride toward earning a world title shot – ‘more like a rollercoaster’ – declared his promoter, Dan Goossen.  “Going in the underdog to the resurgent Guinn, he trained hard and fought a near perfect fight while establishing himself as a real threat in the heavyweight division.  What he accomplished was getting the message out to the world heavyweight champions that there is another big, strong, and hungry heavyweight out there that isn’t European – made in America from head to toe!”

 

Co-managed by NBA All-Star Steve Francis of the New York Knicks and Nate Peake, the towering 6-foot-6 inch, 238 lb. southpaw utilized his 81.5-inch reach in following the fight plan of co-trainers Tom Browner and Barry Hunter to a tee en route to a one-sided, 12-round unanimous decision at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA to capture the vacant WBC Continental Americas and NABO heavyweight titles.

 

Thompson, constantly moving to his right, had Guinn retreating for most of the night, piling up points as he continually landed his sharp right jab.  Defensively, he kept his opponent at a distance by making full use of his long reach advantage, which completely frustrated Guinn and took the fight right out of him.

 

Thompson has now rattled off a streak of 24 consecutive wins and should expect to see his rankings jump up to be considered one of the top five heavyweights in the world. 

 

In the meantime, Goossen and “Team Tiger” plan on pursuing any of the world titleholders – Hasim Rahman (WBC), Wladimir Klitschko (IBF) Nikolay Valuev (WBA) and Sergei Lyakhovich (WBO) – to get a world championship belt as soon as possible.

 

“I told Dan (Goossen) back in March that I was ready to make my move, and when the Guinn fight was offered I knew that beating him alone wasn’t good enough, I needed to make a statement to the fans and networks and I believe they got my message; I will not be denied,” Thompson said.  “I’m 34, and just coming into my prime years.  I will win a title when the opportunity comes and more importantly defend it for years.”

 

One thing is abundantly clear:  Boxing has a hungry tiger on its hands!