Punchers from the Past: Hector Thompson

Photo credit: Boxrec

HECTOR Thompson

Born 24 June 1949 Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia

Died 20 May 2020

Career: 1970-1980

Record 87 fights 73 wins (27 by KO/TKO) 12 Losses 2 Draws

Tuned Professional 11 March 1970

Defeated: Joe Tetteh(twice),Manny Santos, Gerardo Ferrat, Johnny Gant*, Carlos Gimenez (twice)* , Jimmy Heair,  Alfonso Frazer**, Lion Furuyama*, Ali Afakasi (three times), Perdo Adigue**. Shinichi Kadota*, Adriano Marrero*, Alfonso Haymon, Chick Wilburn, Lawrence Austin, Jeff Malcolm*,

Lost to: Roberto Duran**, Antonio Cervantes**, Javier Ayala ,Lawrence Austin (twice),

Drew Against: Manny Santos

** Former or future world title holders

* World title challengers

1970

-Had 17 fights in 8 months drew in his first fight then won the next 15 before  losing his last fight of the year. One opponent Roko Spanja died of injuries the day after losing to Thompson on 6 October and Thompson fought again ten days later.

– 1971 He lost his first fight then won his next 13 collecting the New South Wales and the Australian super lightweight titles

– 1972 He won 10 of his 11 fights defending the Australian super lightweight title and scoring wins over good level opposition in Joe Tetteh, Jeff White and Ali Afakasi and drawing with New Zealander Manny Santos

–1973 Beat Manny Santos and then won the Commonwealth super lightweight title by outpointing Joe Tetteh. He was then on a 25 bout unbeaten streak. In June lost on an eighth round stoppage against Roberto Duran for the WBA lightweight title. Duran did not escape unscathed. He had swelling around his left eye and reportedly was hospitalised after the fight due to rib damage caused by Thompson’s body punches. Thompson fought again just over six weeks later defending the Commonwealth super lightweight title by outpointing Joe Tetteh over 15 rounds and fought three more times in 1973 .

–1974 won 6 of his 7 fights losing to Javier Ayala when he was unable to continue after three rounds due to a knee injury.

-1975 Won his first six fights. In November he challenged Antonio Cervantes for the WBA super lightweight title but lost on a seventh round retirement. Thompson was cut by a punch in the seventh round and his corner would not let him come out for the eighth.

–1976 won his eight fights including defences of both the Australian and Commonwealth titles. He beat Chuck Wilburn on 1 April 1976 and Wilburn died two days later from injuries sustained in the fight.

-1977 Lost his Australian and Commonwealth titles to Lawrence Austin when a knee injury prevented him continuing in the fifteenth round. Regained the titles with a win over Austin, won the Australian welterweight title but then lost the Australian and Commonwealth super lightweight titles in his last fight of the year on a points against Austin.

-1978 Outpointed Jeff Malcolm but by now the 76 fights were having their effect and he was 4-2 in that year, had two fights in 1979 and three in 1980 losing inside the distance in the last two against domestic opposition and he retired in November 1980.

Thompson, an Aboriginal/First Nation child, lost his mother whilst still a baby and was raised at the controversial Kinchela Boys’ Home (KBH)+ in the town of Kempsey. Thompson reportedly had his first taste of boxing there. An Aunt removed him from the KBH in his early teens to the city of Armidale. There is very little information on Thompson’s time as an amateur. Box Rec shows two fight for Thompson one when he was thirteen and one fourteen but nothing else. He was twenty when he turned professional and chose the right time to do so as it coincided with an explosion of small hall boxing in Australia. Box Rec shows 146 boxing events scheduled in Australia for 1968, 237 for 1969, 354 for 1970 and 348 for 1971 and Thompson had 40 fights in his first three years as a professional. He was undoubtedly one of the best boxers produced by Australia and was unfortunate in that there were only two sanctioning bodies in existence during his career, the WBA and WBC, and that there were two great champions in his weight range in Roberto Duran and Antonio Cervantes. He also had the misfortune to experience two fatalities arising from his fights. Australian International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Johnny Lewis said of Thompson “Hector Thompson was one of Australian boxing’s true champions and a credit to the sport. I thought his body punching was the best of any Australian fighter that I have seen”.

With regard to boxing Thompson said “My motivation was always the same. I fought to make a better life for my children, my four sons and one lovely daughter; that was the most important thing.” Thompson was inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.

+ Between 1924 and 1970 KBH, as part of official government and church programs, forcibly took Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities as part of official government and church programs to assimilate First Nations children into non-Indigenous society.