John Thompson (boxer) facts for kids

John Thompson (born March 5, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He is known for competing in the junior middleweight division. This means he fights against other boxers who are around the same weight as him. John Thompson is also known by his nickname, "Apollo Kidd."

Boxing Successes

Winning the Boxcino Tournament

In 2015, John Thompson had a big win. He won the Boxcino tournament. This was a special boxing competition shown on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Winning this tournament was a major step in his career.

At the end of the Boxcino tournament, he also won two important boxing titles. These were the interim North American Boxing Association (NABA) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Inter-Continental junior middleweight titles. These titles showed he was one of the best boxers in his weight class.

World Title Opportunity

Winning the Boxcino tournament helped John Thompson's ranking with the WBO. This organization ranks boxers around the world. An opportunity came up for a world title fight. The WBO title was no longer held by Demetrius Andrade.

So, Liam Smith was set to fight for the empty title. But his opponent, Michel Soro, could not fight. Because John Thompson was the next highest-ranked boxer available, he got the chance to fight for the vacant world title.

This big fight happened on October 10, 2015. It was part of a larger boxing event. John Thompson fought against Liam Smith for the WBO world title. Unfortunately, Thompson lost the fight by knockout. A knockout happens when a boxer is hit so hard they cannot continue to fight.