'Undefeated'
Undefeated middleweight Junior Thompson (1-0) shares a bill on February 28 with 12 other unbeaten boxers.
The national amateur champion enters the second professional bout of his fledgling career at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on a Black Flash Promotions show, joined by seven unbeaten boxers from the talent-laden Everton Red Triangle gym, plus four more gifted fighters.
Trained by Dee ‘The Hat’ Taggart, Thompson, who turns 29 on the day before his next fight, is looking to double his win tally on the stacked show.
The 154-pounder kicked off his pro career last November with a first-round win over Bryn ‘The Brusier’ Wain.
He reflected on his pro bow, “Hats off to Bryn Wain, he was a tough lad, very game. I’d landed a few heavy shots earlier in the round and then I landed a good shot that caused a massive gash under his eyebrow, which lead to his corner making the decision to stop the fight at the end of the first round.”
The six-foot-tall Liverpudlian enjoyed a break over Christmas after a typically uncertain start to life as a pro fighter.
“I was lucky because ‘The Hat’ gave me a couple of weeks off over Christmas to enjoy it and see my family, because we’d had a long hard year and some misfortune with fights falling through earlier in the year, so I was glad to get them weeks off because I think I needed it, to be honest.”
The 28-year-old has taken the new experiences and frustrations on board, ready for the next part of his journey, “The main thing I learnt was just how extremely different professional boxing is to amateur boxing, everything was new to me so I was trying to soak it all up the best I could.”
His second pro fight will be against 230-bout veteran Kevin McCauley (15-203-12) over four three-minute rounds at the middleweight limit.
On his next opponent, he commented, “I've gotta give credit where it’s due, he’s had a serious career, which I have to respect, for me though I’m just gonna do what I do best and stick to my boxing, we have a script which I’ll stick to strictly and we’ll see how it goes on the night.”
The Black Flash Promotions event is aptly titled ‘Undefeated’, with a whopping 13 boxers with perfect records fill the bill.
Trained and managed by Everton Red Triangle head coach, Paul Stevenson, Bradley Strand (2-0), Nick Ball (11-0) and Andrew Cain (4-0), who have all just signed contracts with Frank Warren, will all be appearing on the night.
There’s also super-flyweight Connor Butler (3-0-1); super-middleweight Harry Woods (3-0); super-lightweight Jonathan Walsh (3-0); welterweight Jack McKinlay (1-0) – all from the same skilled century-old gym – and super-flyweight Carly Skelly (2-0), who is managed by Stevenson but trains elsewhere. The accomplished octet, all national amateur champions, are currently undefeated in 30 pro fights between them.
There will be a guest appearance from Commonwealth super-welterweight champion James Metcalf (20-0) on the show, as well as being supported by super-middleweight southpaw James Heneghan (3-0); super-lightweight Michael Hedges (2-0); and hard-hitting heavyweight Karl Tierney (1-0).
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