Willie Monroe Jr. vs John Thompson Preview June 11th
Willie Monroe Jr. will be taking on fellow American John Thompson in a 10-round middleweight bout at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York this Saturday, June 11th. The bout will be broadcast by the Showtime network in the U.S. while Sky TV will telecast it in the UK. Monroe last fought in May of 2015 when he was stopped by Gennady Golovkin in the sixth round in a world title shot. This is his first fight since so may have a bit of ring rust to battle through. Thompson was beaten by Liam Smith in Manchester England via a seventh-round stoppage in his world title shot for the vacant WBO Jr. Middleweight Crown last October.
Monroe Jr. vs Thompson Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- John Thompson +400
- Willie Monroe Jr. -550
My Pick
The 29-year-old Monroe of Rochester, New York has a record of 19-2 along with 6 Kos. He’s won nine of his last 10 bouts with the lone loss being to Golovkin, meaning he’d won nine straight before running into Triple G. His other career defeat came at the hands of Darnell Boone via way of a split decision back in 2011. Monroe is a skilled southpaw who stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a 74-inch reach. Monroe has little in the way of power as his knockout ratio currently stands at just 29 per cent. He turned pro in 2008 and has fought 118 rounds since then. Monroe took part in the Boxcino Middleweight Tournament in 2014 and defeated Brandon Adams, Donatas Bondorovas and VItaliy Kopylenko. He also has a win over Brian Vera.
Monroe has done pretty well so far against Grade B opponents and he’ll be facing one in Thompson on Saturday. His win over Vera should be noted and he did as well as he could against Golovkin, but he hasn’t beaten an elite opponent as of yet. This makes this fight against Thompson an even and competitive bit of matchmaking. The 27-year-old Thompson of Newark, New Jersey will enter the ring with a record of 17-2 and like Monroe, he also lacks power and has just 6 Kos. He’s won eight and lost two of his last 10 bouts and stands 6-foot-1-inch tall with an unlisted reach, giving him a three-inch height advantage.
John Thompson entered the Boxcino tournament last year as a 154-pounder and beat Ricardo Pinell, Stanyslav Skorokhod and Brandon Adams. His two career losses came to Smith and Frank Galarza by second-round Ko in 2014.Thompson turned pro in 2011 and has fought 87 rounds since then. His current knockout ratio is 32 per cent. His chin may be questionable though since he’s been stopped in both of his losses. This is an important fight for both Monroe Jr. and Thompson as they’re both trying to rebound from tough knockout losses and get their careers back on track.
Prediction……
This is an evenly-matched bout which both guys need to win if they hope to earn at least one more title shot in their careers. Monroe may arguably have the better chin, but since neither boxer has much in the way of power it likely won’t matter so this will be decided by boxing skills. The bout will likely go the distance with Monroe winning a close decision.
This should be a relatively close fight with Monroe winning a decision.
Play: Monroe Jr. -550 @ 5dimes.eu
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
John Thompson betting • Willie Monroe Jr. betting