How British Challenger Swapped Tennis For Boxing
Jordan Thompson’s boyhood fantasy of serving for championship point at Wimbledon never came to fruition, but the cruiserweight from Manchester is just one punch away from becoming British boxing’s newest world champion.
The 30-year-old – undefeated in 15 pro bouts – challenges Australia’s IBF world champion Jai Opetaia at Wembley’s OVO Arena on Saturday.
Thompson is perched on the brink of world honours and the limelight it brings, but tennis was his first love.
“I was top 10 in the under-16s and under-18s nationally,” he explains. “I was number one in Lancashire for a while. I travelled the world, up and down the United Kingdom. I loved it.”
Aged 18, however, he retired the racket. It was not for a lack of trying or potential.
“A lot of sponsorship was needed and it was tough to get,” Thompson says. “That was the main reason I couldn’t fulfil my potential – a lack of funding.
“I come from a hard-working family. I never went without food in my belly or a roof over my head, but I didn’t have the luxury of a millionaire funding my tennis career.”
When Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is belted out by boxing fans on Saturday, it will be worlds apart from the sound of champagne corks popping at Wimbledon.
But Thompson can draw plenty of similarities between boxing and tennis.
“They are actually very, very similar sports,” he says. “Both do end up in your head a little bit, they’re emotionally volatile.
not deserving of it, but I’ve done what I’ve need to do, won my fights. I feel like the shot has been earned.”
Opetaia, making a first defence of the title he won again Briedis last year, is a strong favourite.
“Nothing great comes from comfort zones,” Thompson adds.” To go in there as an underdog, that means a lot to me.
“I’ve got a load of people to prove wrong, but I also have a lot of people who have stuck by me, so I have those to prove right.”
Thompson feels a win over Opetaia can lead to further, more lucrative, contests – perhaps an all-British unification fight against WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith.
“This is the fight where I can secure that belt and lock in those real big fights, against those big names, domestically or world scene,” Thompson says.
