Old Boxers Don't Fade Away….They Just Keep Coming Out of Retirement

What is it About the Sport of Boxing that Makes Ex-fighters Return to the Ring

You gotta hand it to George Foreman - he pretty much redefined the age that boxers ought to quit or better yet, the age that boxers ought to come out of retirement: thirty-eight years old when he returned to the ring and 45 years old when he regained a portion of the Heavyweight Championship of the World, George Foreman made it “cool” to be older, wiser and cagier when it came to returning to the ringwars of old. A lot of boxers of the late 70’s and early 80’s followed suit - and the lion’s share of them should have stayed home.

For every “Ray Leonard” who comes out of retirement and defeats a “Marvellous Marvin Hagler”, there’s a Greg Page who takes a bad shot and winds up in a wheel chair or worse.

Boxing’s sanctioning bodies turn a blind eye: there’s more money to made on PPV with a once-great heavyweight like Evander Holyfield (Check the AC archives for a recent story) than with a dozen hungry up-and-comers.