Over the past twelve months, Shakiel Thompson has been quietly improving and building momentum. Last night, he planted himself firmly on the radar of every British middleweight. 

On Friday night, the Sheffield middleweight put in a dominant display to stop River Wilson-Bent in three rounds and position himself for some major fights. 

Wilson-Bent is a solid domestic operator who has never quite been able to get over the line and claim the type of victory which would have taken him to the next level. He has boxed Tyler Denny twice - earning a technical draw and losing a split decision - and was stopped in two by Hamzah Sheeraz and in eight by Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams. 

The way Thompson, 13-0 (9 KOs), dealt with Wilson-Bent, 17-5-2 (7 KOs), suggests that he also has what it takes to compete for major titles.

The 27-year-old southpaw stands 6ft 3in tall and  makes use of every inch of his frame, boxing out of a wide stance and bearing down on his opponents. Over the past year he has developed the useful habit of making his presence felt quickly and grabbing hold of a fight from the first bell. He did exactly the same to Wilson-Bent, imposing himself from the getgo and hurting the man from Coventry with a right hand in the opening round. 

Thompson began to hurt Wilson-Bent with long left hooks to the body in the second but switched his attack upstairs and floored him heavily with a pair of short left hooks as the bell sounded to end the round.

Thompson’s right hook did the damage in the fourth. An outgunned Wilson-Bent was put over three times with the shot and the fight was stopped with just a couple of seconds of the round left. 

There are times when the quietly spoken Thompson forgets to move his head and gets caught with unnecessary shots as he sets himself to get his own punches off but he is a dangerous fighter with good variety and has developed into a major threat to all the domestic middleweights.  

Earlier in the evening, Hughie Fury, 29-3 (16 KOs), continued to rebuild with a useful eight round decision victory over Christian Thun at heavyweight.

The towering Thun, 9-2 (7 KOs) tried to take the center of the ring but rather than employing his usual hit and move tactics, a newly aggressive Fury took the fight right to the German. He planted himself inside, landed short shots to head and body and stunned Thun with a huge right hand as the opening round drew to a close.  

Thun is a giant of a man but, for reasons best known to him, barely throws a straight punch. Fury walked into range whenever he wanted and fired away to head and body but, as the fight wore on, Thun got better and began to put together his own short combinations.

The quality came from Fury and he fully deserved to have his hand raised but Thun provided him with a good workout. 

Fury has never been shy about testing himself against quality opposition but on last night’s evidence, he is still a step or two away from competing with one of the heavyweight division’s many contenders. One suspects, however, it won't be long before a big fight comes his way if he can continue to progress.

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X