| Biography | Billy Thompson (20 October 1923, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England - 4 January 2009) was an English Lightweight boxer.
Thompson was a highly accomplished amateur boxer, losing less than ten bouts. He won the Northern Counties ABA flyweight championship and the Air Training Corps title while he was a member. In 1944 he won the ABA lightweight championship, beating Scotsman J Cassidy to secure the title.
In 1945 he turned professional and kicked off his career with a win over Billy Cunningham after moving to the famous Solomon's Gym in London where he trained alongside a young Henry Cooper. He remained unbeaten in his first 20 bouts before suffering a points defeat to Stan Hawthorne, one of the few to beat him as an amateur, in a contest for the Northern Area lightweight title at Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium. Thompson would go on to capture the British and European lightweight titles.
Legendary boxing commentator Harry Carpenter paid tribute in a birthday letter to Thompson saying: "He was one of the men I most admired and enjoyed watching when I started out in the business of reporting boxing." |