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An age limit in boxing is increasingly becoming essential.
EVERYTHING fades with time. As the years roll by, it’s tempting to believe we’ve ‘still got it’, and may somehow be sharper than those rising up around us, but the reflection of ourselves always presents a far harsher visage.
The expiry date of a human being is utterly relentless and approaches at uncomfortable speed. When our peak has passed, we have no choice but to move on. Yet for fighting men it is not so easy to let go.
There might be a flicker of a flame remaining, but the fists and feet have dulled, and usually the engine is bone dry. The consequences of boxing on become ever darker with every brutal tick of time.
The last month has witnessed a disturbing trend of faded fighting names in their fifties returning to the fold with a hope of rekindling past fortunes. Within a matter of weeks, Mike Tyson (58), Oliver McCall (59) and Ike Ibeabuchi (52) will have all returned to arms.
With his right knee strapped, an immobile, aching Tyson went through the motions against converted YouTuber Jake Paul; many of us watched with dread and then relief when Mike made it to the final bell relatively unscathed. Tyson later revealed he had almost died five months earlier after a health scare, losing half his blood and 25lbs in hospital.
Imagine if Tyson had perished in front of 65 million households live on Netflix? The consequences would have been devastating. A financial gamble for Tyson felt like Russian Roulette for boxing. It doesn’t bear thinking about.
Some Boxing News readers railed against Tyson vs Paul being on the cover, and while I understand that stance and appreciate all views, taking none personally, the news is the news. Highlighting it shouldn’t be confused with supporting. Boxing News had to shine a light on the dangers of this fight, rather than shy away. Difficult stories must always be told.
After the Tyson vs Paul circus rolled out of town, with moneybags in hand, new acts came into view.
At 59, the iron-chinned Oliver McCall also returned last week, halting a 54-year-old Stacey Frazier in the second round before immediately calling for a bout with boxing’s money train Paul. With Ibeabuchi in training at 52 ahead of a December reappearance in Nigeria, it felt like the floodgates were opening.
McCall (60-14, 39 KOs) had reportedly reset the record for being the oldest former heavyweight champion to compete in a sanctioned fight, eclipsing the previous total of 58 set by Mike Tyson just four days earlier. However, Jack Johnson fought professionally to 60 before dying eight years later (while former WBC super-lightweight champion Saoul Mamby also boxed at 60 in the Cayman Islands).
At least McCall fighting on is not entirely related to financial need, and he has a coherent plan for when he hangs up the gloves.
“The only reason that I have not fought in five years was the pandemic and a few things falling through. If you look at my record, since 2005, I have fought 25 times and have been 19-6 with wins over quality fighters and have won various regional titles,” he said.
“I want to do this for another year. That will make it 40 years as a professional boxer. Then I want to train and get into the management end of things. I want to give back and help the next generation of fighters try to become world champions.”
As British Boxing of Control Chief Medical Officer Neil Scott told BN two weeks ago, there are serious repercussions involved with any man fighting into their forties, with cerebral atrophy (shrinkage) of the brain meaning there is more space in the skull for the brain to move. Every fight past 50 brings an amplified danger.
When George Foreman shockingly regained the lineal heavyweight title aged 45 with that thumping right hand against Michael Moorer in 1994, it felt like a miracle to all watching. But from that ripple in history fighting older gradually seemed to become more acceptable, and almost normalised, with active fighters in their 40s becoming far less unusual.
Bernard Hopkins pushed the envelope ever further, holding a world championship at 49 but fitness and lifestyle wise this was an extraordinary man who lived a spartan existence with no excesses, having built himself physically and mentally inside the Pennsylvanian prison system. We won’t see his like again.
No satisfactory outcome has happened at 50 plus in the history of boxing and no-one should be fighting professionally beyond this point. There may be fiscal benefits for a crossover star like Tyson, but not for the rest of the game. Their remaining capital, their health, is at huge risk.
Tyson vs Paul felt like a bullet dodged, but next time we may not be so lucky.
Mark Butcher
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