On the Sheffield undercard this Friday, Manchester's former WBO cruiserweight champion Carl Thompson continues his comeback against two-time Commonwealth title challenger Hastings Rasani of Zimbabwe.
The likeable Thompson has fought only once since a thrilling fight with Ezra Sellers in 2001 - a fourth round kayo of Phil Day in Sheffield in June, a decent performance, given the length of time he had been out. The Sellers battle probably merited such a layoff. Both hit the deck in that one before a wicked right hook from southpaw Sellers made it 4-2 in knockdowns in his favour and ended the fight in round four. It's not such a bad loss, given the American's subsequent performance against current WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, but at 39 it will be hard for the "The Cat" to re-establish himself at top level.
He long campaigned for a return with Nelson, who took his WBO cruiserweight title on a premature stoppage in Derby in 1999 (though there was no denying Carl was under fire). Nelson struggled badly in his last fight with Panama's Guillermo Jones, a fight Thompson observed closely from ringside. Maybe that encouraged him to give it another go. He actually deserved another shot at Nelson after winning the vacant British cruiserweight title with a thrilling last round victory over Terry Dunstan, the vacant European title with a sixth round stoppage of Frenchman Alain Simon and the IBO cruiserweight title with a fifth round dismissal of Uriah Grant. But then came the Sellers disaster, a fight which saw the good and bad of Thompson: plenty of guts and power but definite weakness around the chin.
His opponent on Friday, Rasani, was stopped in four rounds by Neil Simpson and by Tony Oakey in 10 in his two stabs at the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title over here, but put up a fight each time and had Simpson down and on the verge of defeat before the hometown man roared back at Coventry.
He's lost his last five however, and may lack the ambition to stand up to the hard-hitting Thompson who is still dangerous and looking for a showdown with David Haye.
Unbeaten heavyweight Roman Greenberg also appears on the bill against Luke Simpkin in a six-rounder.
Sheffield undercard topped by Carl Thompson
Thompson can make an impact at British level and will provide a stiff test for David Haye when they eventually meet possibly in 1 year-18 months time. He should dispose of Hastings Rasani who has failed before in his previous challenges in these shores. In the fight with Nelson despite being under fire i feel Thompson had weathered the storm and was covering up well and even throwing back, it was a disappointing stoppage IMO.