Chris Thompson has visions of dominating the bridgerweight division, but there are several hurdles on his way to the top.
One of these presents itself later this month when Alexandru Jur of Romania steps into the ring in their eight-rounder at Emperors Palace.
Jur describes himself as a typical East European fighter; that is, tough, durable, fast in and out and straight up.
“My expectation is a nice fight,” he said from his home in Oredea, “but I come for victory like my previous fight in Japan.”
That was arguably his most significant victory as he roughed up Mitsuro Brandon Tajima, the Japanese heavyweight champion, in his back yard in March.
However, he says his most memorable victory came against against Juho Haapoja for the European Union title in 2017, when he eked out a split decision in Haapoja’s Finnish hometown.
With an earlier career win in Kinshasa, he knows what it takes to win both in Africa and beyond.
Fighting out of his own gym – the AJ Boxing Gym – he is training even harder for the Thompson fight on August 23, relying on what he calls his “warrior mentality” to get through the tough days.
“I have beaten good boxers outside of my country and Chris Thompson will feel my experience.
My preparation is going well, I spar with many good, world class boxers. One of my sparring partners is Andrej Pesic, who is fighting for the WBC Silver bridgerweight title. We are managed by the same manager. I also have many quality southpaw amateurs in my gym that assist me.”
Interestingly, he has a martial arts background
He began with karate and taekwondo in Romania before moving to Belgium where he started his amateur boxing career before making the transition to the professionals.
He was both the amateur and professional Belgium champion, after which he went on to win multiple championship belts, including the WBC cruiserweight Francophone, European Union cruiserweight and WBC Mediterranean cruiserweight titles.
He knows how to win, and that’s something that ought to concentrate Thompson’s mind.
Signing off, Jur had a simple message for the South African: “Vin pentru tine [I’m coming for you].”
