“I’m ready for it – I’m itching for this opportunity, to be honest,” said middleweight prospect Shakiel Thompson. “Everyone’s gonna see a statement.”
Thompson will face Brad Pauls in a step-up fight on January 24 at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, UK, staking his 15-0 (11 KOs) unbeaten record against the former British titleholder.
“We’re expecting the best Brad Pauls there’s ever been, to be honest,” said Thompson, from Sheffield, UK. “[Pauls] needs to win this fight. He wants to be back in the mix, so he’s got to win this – but it’s not happening. I was in the circular for the final eliminator for the British, which Tyler Denny pulled out of, and actually Brad Pauls pulled out of in September.
“I’m wanting to get the British title, but I’ll leave that in the hands of my team and whatever route they want me to go down – literally, I’ll go down whatever route. I say ‘no’ to no opportunity. Every opportunity is a ‘Yes, let's do it.’ I’ll leave it to them.”
Thompson is rated fifth in the IBF and 11th by the WBO.
“Anyone that is in the middleweight division is in my way,” Thompson continued. “So we say ‘no’ to no fights. If it makes sense and will help me progress and climb that ladder, let’s do it.”
Thompson believes he’s the best fighter in an increasingly busy domestic division that includes Pauls, of Cornwall, UK, Denzel Bentley, Nathan Heaney and George Liddard. He figures Bentley and Liddard are behind him, but he added: “There’s a lot of talent in the British middleweight division. But I believe I’m the best of them all.”
More to the point, he believes he can go further than any of the others can – the likes of Heaney, Pauls and Bentley, who have taken turns beating one another.
“I’m going to be going beyond them a thousand per cent,” charged Thompson. “Now my opportunity is here. Everyone’s going to be seeing that as well. And January 24 is the start of it all.”
Thompson is hopeful that he also represents the start of a new era at 160lbs – a weight class that increasingly has needed star power. Oozing faith in himself, he wants to establish himself as a major player.
“I’m the guy that can bring a world title back to England in the middleweight division,” said the 6ft 3ins southpaw Thompson. “Let’s get past Brad, let’s see what route my team want me to go down and let’s dominate the middleweight division. I’m more than capable of doing it. I have the skill. I have the determination. I live in the gym. There’s no reason as to why I can’t.”
As a Sheffield fighter, Thompson looked up to Hall of Famer Prince Naseem Hamed, but it was Kell Brook – the former world welterweight titlist – whom he really wanted to emulate.
“Naz was one hell of a fighter,” Thompson said. “There’s Kell Brook. I looked up to him growing up. I’ve done plenty of rounds with him as well, in sparring. Them two, I looked up to a lot growing up, to be honest. And I’ve had some really, really good sparring sessions there [at the Ingle Gym in Wincobank, Sheffield]. You can ask Kell Brook himself about the spars me and him have had. Anyone would pay to watch them.”
As Thompson developed, he sparred Brook as the latter was preparing to face Terence Crawford. He also sparred both Billy Joe Saunders and Liam Williams before they fought Demetrius Andrade.
Thompson was only a young pro at the time, but he has shared rounds with quality boxers. He also knows he has plenty still to learn.
He has only just been able to go full-time, having previously worked in admin.
“I was doing admin eight hours a day,” he explained. “So I’d run you through a day in my life back then. … I’d get up at five o’clock in the morning, do sprint work or running work, go back home, get myself ready, get my two daughters ready, drop them off at school, drop the other one off at nursery, go to work for eight hours, go straight to the gym for two or three hours and then get home. It’ll be about eight, nine o’clock.
“So, yeah, there were long, long days. But now this is way better, because I can get my rest in, I can chill, I can make time for my media, etcetera. I’m living a dream this camp and I’m reaping the rewards and seeing a huge difference in my boxing ability as well from it. You just keep on learning, keep on learning the trade, keep on getting experience. It’s literally it, listening to my team and going from there.
“I’ve been putting in the work, and over the last year or last year and a half, I’ve been with [promoters] GBM, had five fights with them, knocked them all out, got two titles on my side. So now it’s just a time to collect more of those gold straps and keep on climbing the ranks.”
But Thompson’s recent success has not come overnight. There have been down days and struggles. He has endured hard times, and still has his hands full now that his daughters are 5 and 2 years old.
“Yeah, it’s part of the journey,” Thompson said. “I’ve fought in pubs, I’ve fought in gyms, I’ve fought everywhere. January 24, I'll be fighting at the Co-op Arena that hosts thousands.
“I’ve known that I’ll get to this stage. It was just a matter of trust in the process, I guess.
“I’d say the hardest period of my career was where I didn’t have a fight for two years. And that was really hard, because even during that point, I was still in the gym non-stop. I was sparring everyone and I was waiting for my opportunity, which I wasn’t getting. I’d say that was the hardest point. But again, trusting the process, staying consistent, you dig yourself out of that hole. And I’m out of that hole now. And January 24 is my time to shine.”
After leaving college at 17, Thompson has worked through this camp. He’s now 28.
“The past couple of years, I missed out on so many memories,” he said, referring to time with his young children. “But, yeah, now I’ve got more time with them and can spend some quality time.
“The motivation growing up, before the girls, was literally just a childhood dream, wanting to be a world champion. I’ve always grown up watching boxing. The likes of Mike Tyson, etcetera, Kell Brook, Naz, and seeing what they do. Ever since growing up, it was just a matter of wanting to get to that level. And it was just a dream. Now I’ve got the girls, it’s just added extra fuel to the fire. And honestly, I’m hungry.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
