Unbeaten light heavyweight prospect Lionell “Lonnie B” Thompson has been added to the Logan Cotton McGuinness vs. Benoit Gaudet undercard, presented by Hennessy Sports in association with Interbox and United Promotions, on Saturday night, October 22 at The Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The 26-year-old Thompson (9-0, 6 KOs), fighting out of Buffalo, was a standout amateur who was rated as high as No. 2 in the country. A five-time New York Golden Glove and three-time Empire State champion, “Lonnie B” turned pro in 2009 but his career was kick-started last November, when he signed with manager, Tim Ziccardi, and added former world light middleweight title challenger Ross “The Boss” Thompson (no relations) to his corner as chief second.
“We have very high hopes for Lionell,”promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) said. “He’s a solid boxer-puncher who lives in the gym. Nobody works harder than this kid and he now has a great team behind him in Tim and Ross. His addition to an already great boxing card insures that it’ll be a night to remember for boxing fans.”
Since teaming-up with Ziccardi and Thompson, Lionell is 5-0 with four knockouts. “I’ve known Lionell since he was 16,” Ziccardi remarked. “I’ve always respected him as a person and fighter. We agreed to do this at the highest level and to fight often. He’s already had five fights this year, not including his Oct. 22 fight, and he had one scheduled bout fall-out the day of the fight back in January. His boxing IQ and talent levels are higher than most and his work effort is the highest. He went running after his fight against Angel Gonzalez. Sometimes, Ross has to take his gym bag away, but he still shows up at the gym (Ross Thompson Gym in Buffalo).
“Boxing isn’t a sport to him; it’s a lifestyle. He eats clean and Friday and Saturday nights he’s watching boxing, not going out. He prides himself as a throwback fighter who is always ready to fight. Lionell Thompson was born to box.”
Thompson will fight Oct. 22 in a six-round fight against an opponent to be determined.
McGuinness (15-0-1, 7 KOs), presently rated No. 11 by the World Boxing Association (“WBA”), is the reigning North American Boxing Association (“NABA”) Lightweight Champion, but the Orangeville, Ontario native will abdicate his belt in order to fight Gaudet for the vacant NABA super featherweight title in the main event.
Former world title challenger Gaudet (24-2, 10 KOs) is a former NABA super featherweight title-holder. The Quebec boxer Gaudet was stopped by defending champion Humberto Soto in their 2009 World Boxing Council (“WBC”) super featherweight championship match, which was the co-feature on the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton mega-fight card.
Unbeaten Columbian welterweight Samuel Vargas (7-0-1, 1 KO), fighting out of Mississauga, Ontario, takes on outspoken Montreal favorite Ahmad Cheikho (6-3-2, 5 KOs) in the 8/10-round co-feature.
In a six-round bout, former Canadian amateur standout Ibrahim “Firearm” Kamal (5-0, 4 KOs) puts his perfect record on the line against TBA, while a pair of Ontario lightweights – Jeremy Abbott (2-2, 1 KO) and Harrison McBain (3-3-1) – face each other in an expected 4/6 round brawl.
Also fighting on the undercard in four-round bouts are Ontario fighters Dillon Carman(1-0), a heavyweight prospect, light middleweight Brandon “Bad Boy” Cook(2-00, 1 KO), and super featherweight Natasha Spence (2-0-1, 2 KOs). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets, starting at $30.00, may be purchased at the Hersey Centre Box Office, through Ticketmaster at (855) 985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
