William Thompson (boxer) - Fame

Fame

Thompson's star rose steadily. On 3 April 1838 Caunt finally obtained his rematch, worth £300 in prize money. Although the slightly younger man, at three years younger than Thompson, Caunt came into the ring in poor shape in comparison to the excellent physique of Thompson, who had trained hard for this match. Consequently he easily outfoxed and outmanoeuvred Caunt. The fight lasted for 75 rounds of furious combat. In the fifth round, Caunt had Thompson on the ropes and nearly strangled him but Thompson fought back, peppering his opponent with body shots and more insults. Desperate for victory and revenge, Caunt was said to have Thompson by the throat strangling him again in the thirteenth round. By the time Thompson's followers had cut the ropes and entered the ring his face was going blue. A fight broke out between the two sets of supporters and Caunt took a few hits across the back with a ring stake.

When order was restored, Thompson was given brandy and recovered his stamina. In the fiftieth round it was Thompson's turn for some underhand tactics, lashing out some kicks on Caunt but the referee dismissed the complaint. In the seventy-fifth round, the referee stopped the fight as Thompson fell to the ground without being struck, an illegal tactic in prize fighting. After the fight, Thompson claimed it was a slip; a claim backed up by contemporary accounts, putting him well ahead and coasting. After the referee called the foul against Thompson, pandemonium broke loose. His supporters attacked Caunt with whatever weapons were to hand. Caunt was dragged to his coach by his seconds and attempted to flee. The coach was arrested by Thompson's mob who dragged Caunt out, but during the ensuing melee he escaped riding bareback on a stolen horse.

In 1839 when Thompson was 28, he was given the task of defeating the fearsome Londoner James "Deaf 'un" Burke for the All England Title and a purse of £220. The backers admired his wit and courage, and now a crowd favourite he was a perfect match for the title. The fight was held in a field at No Mans Heath in Leicestershire, in front of an unruly crowd of 15,000 people. It lasted just ten rounds, with Thompson battering the helpless Burke, who himself had just successfully toured America. After half an hour, the frustrated Burke became so enraged with the barrage of punches and insults coming from his younger, faster and stronger challenger, he grabbed hold of Thompson and full-on head butted him, thus losing on a foul and lifting the championship away. The "Nottingham Jester", Champion Prize Fighter Of All England was presented his Champion's Belt a few weeks later at a ceremony in The Queens Theatre, Liverpool. When he got home to Nottingham, Thompson met his supporters, and in such excitement he somersaulted into the crowd and ended up breaking his kneecap putting him out of action for two years.

Thompson never stepped down from a challenge, and once he recovered from his knee injury he defeated 19 opponents over the next 4 years, including 7 in one month. Then finally, on 9 September 1845 at Lillington Level, Oxford, a half drunk riotous crowd of 10,000 came to see the third and final fight between Thompson and Caunt. Thompson's tactics were called into question as he crouched and bobbed his way around the ring, making it harder for Caunt to hit him. Hardly a round went by without a foul being claimed in a notoriously dirty grudge match. The atmosphere was all the more intense because of the fierce rivalry between the two sets of supporters, who only really came to finish what they had started 6 years earlier. The fight lasted a massive 96 rounds with Thompson tactically and methodically breaking his man down until, exhausted after two hours ten minutes, Caunt sat down without getting hit, losing on a foul. The fight was described by a contemporary writer as "one of the most scandalous brawls in boxing history. Both men used every foul under the sun and invented a good many others... Thompson was tossed from the ring... Caunt trying to crash him on the ring stakes to break his back. Thompson's attempted to bludgeon Caunt whenever within striking distance... on one occasion missing by a hairs breadth, the blow landing on Caunt's brawny shoulder..."

Years later, when speaking on this fight, Lord Longford, a former backer said to Thompson in relation to Thompson's evangelising; "I hope you fight Beelzebub with more fairness than you fought Caunt or else I might change sides."

This fight seemed to have taken a lot out of Thompson, who went back to his childhood pastime of fishing. He became good friends with a well-known angler called William Bailey, who made and sold fishing tackle from his shop in Broad Marsh. Thompson won several All England Fishing Awards. Although enjoying his quiet life, Thompson accepted a challenge from a young Tom Paddock from Redditch and on the 5 June 1850, the 39-year-old William Abednego Thompson fought his last fight. In two minds as to whether to accept the fight or not, his 82 year old mother encouraged him by saying "I tell you this Bendy, if you don't take up the fight you're a coward. And I tell you more. If you don't fight him, I'll take up the challenge myself."

The fight was a close one and lasted over an hour. Paddock, the younger man by far, was getting the better of Thompson who started to go to ground very easily causing the end of the round. This infuriated Paddock who after flooring Thompson with a right hand in the 49th, thought he had gone down again. Paddock charged across the ring and kicked Thompson, and pulling him to his feet shouting, "Get up and fight like a man". Thompson's corner man called foul and the referee concurred, giving the decision. By all accounts, he was lucky to win that last fight and he never disagreed.