Greene prevails in less than spectacular fashion

Of Joe Greene’s 17 fights, almost all of them were impressive. Rarely has he gone the distance or been pushed. That changed when the NABA middleweight champion was taken to the limit by journeyman Patrick Thompson.
The 21-year-old August Martin graduate remained undefeated, taking a lackluster unanimous eight-round decision in the main event of a recent card at the Roseland Ballroom last Thursday night.
Greene (17-0, 12 KOs) got off to a quick start against Thompson. Early on, the southpaw was successful in finding a target for his right jab. However, as the fight progressed, Greene was not prepared for Thompson’s excessive clinching and mauling style.
To his credit, Greene never appeared discouraged; he did seem frustrated when he realized that a consistent attack to the head and body would not end the bout early like 12 of his previous fights.
Thompson (12-12-1, 5 KOs) is a professional survivor. In his 25-fight career, he has only been knocked out once. He is probably one of the best .500 fighters in the sport’s history, having taken L’s from notables such as John Duddy, Sechew Powell and Ishe Smith.
“That dude [Thompson] was real tough,” Greene said. “His smothering style was really frustrating me, but we got the win so now we move on.”
Up next for the power-punching South Jamaica native is his third professional visit to Madison Square Garden. He will fight an opponent to be determined February 23 on the under card of the world heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov. Some have suggested a matchup with Duddy (23-0, 17 KOs), a fellow Queens native currently fighting overseas in his native Ireland.
“I am willing to fight whoever is next in line,” Greene said. “We will fight anybody; it doesn’t matter.”
Now that he joined up with Seminole Warriors Boxing, Greene can get big fights. This was merely another step on his scheduled future. Greene, a two-time Daily News Golden Gloves champion, was signed in the first place for his crowd-pleasing style that promises action and few dull moments. This was not one of them, but it was not necessarily a poor performance, either.
“This fight here,” he said, “was a good learning experience.”
“Being with Warriors is a very beautiful thing,” Greene later added. “The world gets to see me fight. The world gets to see an up and coming star in the middleweight division.”