AS A HARD-HITTING southpaw, who seems to possess plenty of tricks up his sleeve, it is hardly surprising that Shakiel Thompson has struggled to land an opponent for his British title final eliminator.
‘Dr Steel’ has been hoping to finalise his Lonsdale Belt elimination bout for quite some time, only to have Tyler Denny and Brad Pauls forgo their respective positions as possible dance partners.
In fairness to them, it is likely that the money on offer just simply did not justify their interest, nor the risk they would be taking by stepping into the ring with Thompson, 15-0 (11 KOs).
That said, their reasoning did not stop Thompson from expressing his frustration last month, shortly after engineering a second-round finish – courtesy of a sickening body shot – against the typically durable Grant Dennis.
Speaking into the microphone during his post-fight interview, the 28-year-old accused his domestic rivals of ducking him while also urging P A Gordon not to pull out of their scheduled purse bid.
Yet with their purse bid hearing fixed for Wednesday, Thompson’s promoter, Izzy Asif, remains confident that the pair will collide early next year.
“I think that fight will happen,” the GBM Sports boss told Boxing News. “[Thompson is] a nightmare at middleweight – he’s tall, southpaw, can box at range, loves a tear-up – so I understand why fighters don’t want to fight him.
“But I reckon that fight [with Gordon] will happen sometime next year, and I can see Shakiel Thompson fighting for the British title and a world ranking as well.”
With British champion Kieron Conway defending his title against George Liddard on October 17, there is a good chance that the winner will relinquish their belt soon after.
As such, it is likely that former Southern Area champion Gordon, 9-0 (1 KO), whose best win arguably came against Kevin Reavell last year, will be enticed by the potential opportunity to challenge for the vacant Lonsdale Belt.
Thompson, though, would nonetheless enter their clash – should it materialise – as a sizable favourite, especially when considering his emphatic third-round finish over River Wilson-Bent in September 2024.
