Shakiel Thompson vs River Wilson-Bent Predictions: The mountain is high for River

Shakiel Thompson takes on River Wilson-Bent in a real peach of a 10-rounder this Friday, September 27. The bout takes place at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, on the undercard of Reece Mould vs Ryan Walsh. DAZN will screen the fights live, with Thompson defending IBF European and WBO Global belts. 

Here are my Thompson vs Wilson-Bent predictions ahead of this middleweight encounter.

Wilson-Bent needs this. The Coventry man’s willingness to fight anyone and everyone has cost him dearly. After a bright start to his career, two English title bouts with Tyler Denny didn’t go his way. The first ended on a technical draw when he was cut badly. The second saw him cut again but this time he went the distance, losing a split decision. Considering the fact Denny is now world-ranked, this isn’t bad going at all.

Then the knockout-happy phenom Hamzah Sheeraz stopped him in two rounds. Then, at a time when he needed to rebuild, Wilson-Bent was matched with deadly American Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams. An eight-round destruction at his hands left Wilson-Bent’s career seemingly in tatters.

Ryan Kelly added insult to injury, cutting Wilson-Bent again and outpointing him over 10. But the 30-year-old has fought his way back into form. Once considered a shoo-in for domestic honours, talk of British titles has been put on hold while he has worked his way through a series of six and eight rounds. Wilson-Bent is 2-0-1 in his last three going into what looks like a tough one against Thompson.

IBF European and WBO Global belt-holder Thompson has suffered no such travails. 12-0 with eight knockouts, it has been relatively plain-sailing for ‘Dr Steel’. He will relish a big fight in his hometown of Sheffield and the stage seems set for the world-ranked contender to impress.

A win over gritty Bulgarian Vladimir Georgiev last time out was probably the pick of the bunch from Thompson’s 12 fights. A third-round knockout of Gino Kanters at this very arena and a stoppage of journeyman-to-the-stars Gabor Gorbics are the pick of the rest of the bunch.

But, despite his losses, Wilson-Bent is probably the best fighter Thompson has faced so far. The Midlands middleweight has competed at a high level even if he doesn’t have the titles to match. Denny, Sheeraz, ‘Ammo’ and Kelly are all good-to-excellent opponents. Beating Wilson-Bent would give Thompson a chance to mix in that sort of company. 

The cuts could be a major factor here. You can’t build muscles on skin and no amount of preparation can stop the fact Wilson-Bent has a tendency to get sliced in his fights. Defensive work can help but ultimately, in a boxing match, you are going to get hit. It will be interesting to see how Wilson-Bent’s tendency to wear the crimson mask impacts this fight.

A tight defence would be prudent anyway, as Thompson will be looking to wrap this one up early. ‘Dr Steel’ doesn’t hang about, with six of his eight knockouts coming before the end of round three. This is a survival mission for the challenger.

Shakiel Thompson vs River Wilson-Bent Fight Odds

Thompson is a 1/20 favourite to keep his winning run intact. Wilson-Bent is 8/1 to sneak an upset here. A draw between these two middleweights is 20/1.

Shakiel Thompson vs River Wilson-Bent Full Card

Shakiel Thompson v River Wilson-Bent (Middleweight) 

Reece Mould v Ryan Walsh (Lightweight) 

Hughie Fury v Christian Thun (Heavyweight) 

Tysie Gallagher v Tori Ellis-Willet (Super Bantamweight) 

Maxi Hughes v Efstathios Antonas (Lightweight) 

Amaar Akbar v Fernado Mosquera (Welterweight)

Shakiel Thompson vs River Wilson-Bent Prediction

There is not much value in a pure Thompson win or even the 2/7 shout of a knockout, TKO or DQ for the favourite. We are going to have to head into the dicey territory of having to pick a specific round here.

I think Wilson-Bent will hold on longer than the average Thompson opponent. But what I do not think will happen is this one going much beyond halfway. Whether it is the cuts or just the punch power that does it, I think Wilson-Bent will struggle to go past the fifth. So Thompson in the fifth round, at odds of 7/1, is our pick.

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