For the first few rounds, Federal Way's Vincent Thompson looked more like a linebacker than a heavyweight prizefighter.

He blitzed. He swarmed. He wrapped up his opponent exuberently, only to find he was in too close to fire off his repertoire of punches effectively.

Once he settled down, Thompson got his game back.

He started measuring Charles Ellis in the later rounds and battered him with a barrage of damaging combination punches to cruise to a unanimous six-round decision over Ellis (6-1-1) Saturday at the Emerald Queen I-5 Casino. Thompson is unbeaten in six fights.

"My dad (trainer Calvin Thompson) told me Ellis was going to try to turn it up and fight the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds," Thompson said. "I had to give it more heart. I dug in within me, man."

"I respected Ellis' fight game," added Thompson. "His punches had some power and I didn't want to get in the way of that too much."

Ellis was looking to counter Thompson with a big punch in those rounds, but he never got the chance.
Thompson, reversing his early strategy of going inside, kept his distance but remained close enough to score with his swift jab and develop his power combinations of that punch.

"He kind of got fatigued (because of that)," said Thompson, adding that he thought: "Oh you're getting fatigued on me ... ok. I see what you're doing. You're trying to wait. You're trying to load up with one big punch."

In the fifth round, the 35-year-old Ellis turned his head away from Thompson and looked at the crowd, distracted.

"I think he was probably dazed a little bit," Thompson said. "I hurt him. I was going pow and he was going ow. He knew my punches were coming hard."

Thompson, 27, bloodied Ellis' eye in the first round. The two fighters were continually getting tied up in clinches as Thompson (226 pounds) was taking the fight to Ellis.

"I think the referee (Louis Jackvony) was letting him get away with coming in and charging me," said Ellis, the 2003 National Golden Gloves champion. "Once he (Thompson) saw he could get away with it, that became his tactic."

"He kept me off balance with his head and made me start worrying about fighting," he said.

"See all these (cuts) right here?" added Ellis, pointing to his right brow. "That was from his head.

"But I'm not taking anything away from him. He executed and did what he was supposed to do and got the win. I hope to get a fight with him again, definitely."

Calvin Thompson said he was disappointed in his son's tactics in the first three rounds.

"I'm glad he got the win but he wasn't doing what we wanted him to do: to keep minimum distance so the other fighter could see his hand speed," Thompson said. "He was lunging in, stepping in too far. That's why he kept on getting tied up."

Added Sam DiTusa, Thompson's other trainer: "It was the clinches where we were most disappointed, because we had a real game plan for the clinch which he never did.

"We wanted him to sit down (plant his feet, heels up) and let go with those hard right hooks to the body," added DiTusa, who besides being a boxing writer and manager is also a Seattle Patrol Officer whose beat includes Ballard.

"His best punch is a right hook to the body and it'll come."

For Thompson, victory is sweet but he says the road to a title only gets steeper now.

"There's a lot of work to do, man, it's going to get tougher as we go," he said.

"My dad is always on me," added Thompson. "He'll say 'you did good, but you could've done better.' I understand there's always room for improvement. And I know you're not a great fighter until you fight for a championship belt.

"But I thank God first and foremost for this victory and pulling me through."

Judges scored the fight 60-54, 59-55 and 60-54 for Thompson.

Thompson is becoming part of a proud tradition of Federal Way-area heavyweight boxers, which includes former heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas and ex-heavyweight contender Joe Hipp.

"My dad trained Pinklon Thomas," said Jack Stafford, Thompson's other trainer and coach. "Those were the good old days, man. We're hoping to bring fighting back. Vince is going to do well. He's a guy to watch. Mark my words."

Boxing notes -- The Thompson-Ellis matchup was part of an entertaining, well-run six-fight program put on by Brian Halquist Productions ... In the co-main event light heavyweight Lafarrell Bunting, of Las Vegas, scored a sixth-round TKO over Junior Moar (Vancouver, B.C.)
Bunting will next meet USBA light heavyweight champion Otis Griffin ... In the other co-main event David Torres (Othello) fought Santos Pakua (Auckland, New Zealand) to a light welterweight 10-round, majority draw ... Rob Diezel (Seattle) scored a four-round split decision over Marco Canderos (Salem,Ore.) in super featherweight action ... Virgil Green (Vancouver, Wa.) won a unanimous four-round light welterweight decision over Miguel Garcia (Arlington, Wa.) in his pro debut ... Ralph Prescott (Seattle) scored a majority decision over Omar Avelar (Spokane) in a light welterweight bout.