Lionell Thompson got over a hump in his career.
Thompson, a 34-year-old who had come up short in his biggest fights, defeated former super middleweight titleholder Jose Uzcategui by a unanimous decision on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Saturday in Atlanta.
The scores were 95-94, 96-92 and 96-92 for Thompson, who moved down to 168 pounds from 175 for the fight.
Uzcategui (29-4, 24 KOs) stalked Thompson the entire fight but couldn’t cut off the ring to land punches with any consistency, as Thompson jabbed and moved beautifully to avoid punishment and win rounds.
And Thompson (22-5, 12 KOs) landed some solid power shots, including a straight right that put Uzcategui down in the final seconds of the opening round.
Thompson was cut above the right eye from a punch in Round 3 and was docked a point for allegedly holding Uzcategui excessively. However, neither the cut not the point played a role in the fight as Thompson stuck to his game plan — jab and move — and won the fight going away.
Thompson had fought his entire career as a light heavyweight, at which he was stopped by Sergey Kovalev in 2012, or even a little heavier. He seems to have found a home at super middleweight.
Uzcategui, a Mexican-based Venezuelan, has now lost two of his last three fights. He lost his 168-pound title to another slick boxer, Caleb Plant, by a unanimous decision in January,