The Boxing World Loses Ken Thompson, R.I.P.

A week ago, boxing promoter Ken Thompson, a building supply store emperor, passed away leaving behind thousands of people who knew and loved him. He was successful in business and in life.

“He died on Friday, his birthday,” said Alex Camponovo on Thompson’s passing on Feb.10. “He turned 85 on Friday.”

If you met Ken Thompson, you remembered him well.

“He was a gentleman,” said Carlos Baeza, a photographer for Thompson Boxing Promotions.

In business he built a building supply store empire, Thompson Building Materials, starting in the mid-1960s, that grew and sprouted all over California and beyond to China. But throughout his life he simply loved the sport of boxing. He helped create the World Boxing Hall of Fame that preceded the current International Boxing Hall of Fame.

“He loved boxing from the beginning, before my time,” said Camponovo, who started working for Thompson Building Materials in 1997 and then as a matchmaker for Thompson Boxing Promotions which launched in May of 2000. “He was at all the Olympic fights, Roy Englebrecht’s club, and the Century Club at Forum Boxing. He used it as a business tool for clients.”

Later, Thompson began a boxing promotion company that was self-sufficient and helped launch the careers of multiple world champions and contenders like Josesito Lopez, Mauricio Herrera, Yonni Perez, and Timothy Bradley Jr. who became a multi-belt champion and was recently voted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Bradley, the first world champion developed by Thompson Boxing Promotions, sent a letter to TheSweetScience.com commenting on the impact of Ken Thompson. This is his letter:

From Tim Bradley Jr.

We lost a great one!!!! A remarkable man.

I first want to send my condolences to his family, his wife, his right-hand man Alex Camponovo and to all who have experienced what it was like to be around this remarkable man. Mr. Thompson was and will always be a massive influence in my life, and it’s bothering me as I sit here today that I never got a chance to tell him personally. Mr. Thompson was beloved by many, and he was a respected man, one of the most honest and savviest businessmen that I’ve ever come across. Mr. Thompson was more than a promoter, a friend, a visionary, a lawyer, a counselor, and a jack of all trades.

The most remarkable piece of advice that I still follow today that Mr. Thompson would preach to me was to invest and reinvest in myself continuously. Mr. Thompson followed what he preached. He owned Thompson building materials from the US to China. I can recall him talking on the phone one day to one of his employees who needed a forklift, so instead of buying one, he built his own and started selling them. I remember him needing a specific color of paint for a project, and he couldn’t find the right color, so he started making his own.

Mr. Thompson loved boxing and fighters so much that he began Thompson’s Boxing Promotion to share his love for the sport with his employees and business partners ten months out of each year.

I’ve always wondered why he loved boxing, but now I understand why Mr. Thompson couldn’t get enough. He was a problem solver and never was afraid of adversity. He embraced it just as a fighter does—he had a fighter’s mentality. He believed in himself just like a fighter. A boxer invests time in himself, training, and planning, just as he did in his line of work. Mr. Thompson also loved building things from ground zero, and he built me into a unified world champion. Mr. Thompson believed in me when no one else did. He gave me a chance, and I’m forever grateful. I will never forget what he told me before I became a champion early in my career. He said I would be one of the greatest fighters of my generation and in the Hall of Fame someday. Well, you were right, Mr. Thompson! “

Final Words

Camponovo said a ceremony is planned to take place on March 10 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario.

“Just sitting with him for hours was like going to a university. All this biz acumen and personality. Always easy to deal with. Wasn’t pushy at all,” said Camponovo. “He always said ‘an ounce of sugar is better than a gallon of vinegar.’ And he always strived for excellence.”

Ken Thompson is survived by his wife Vera and children Lisa, Steven, and Kelly.

The boxing world lost perhaps the kindest man in the sport. And as said before, a gentleman.

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