1 STEVE WARD (64)
Recognised by Guinness as the oldest professional boxer in history, cruiserweight Ward fought on a BIBA licence six days before his 65th birthday in August 2021, beating Adrian Parlogea, 50, in Mansfield.
2 SAOUL MAMBY (60)
New Yorker Mamby dropped a decision to journeyman Anthony Osbourne in the Cayman Islands in March 2008, aged 60 years and 9months. He’d held the WBC super-lightweight belt 26 years earlier.
3 REBECCA LIGHT (57)
The oldest currently active boxer, bantamweight Light will turn 58 in September and last fought in March in South Carolina. It’s questionable if she should do so again, given she’s lost 10 of her 11 bouts.
4 ROY JONES JNR (54)
One of the greats, but a man who just can’t stay away, Jones lost to MMA fighter Anthony Pettis in a licensed boxing match in Wisconsin in April. He also took part in a celebrity bout last weekend, aged 54 and a half.
5 OLIVER McCALL (54)
The man best known for knocking out Lennox Lewis in 1994 resurfaced for two low-key bouts in 2018-19, winning both, the latter in Mexico a month after his 54th birthday .
6 LARRY HOLMES (52)
After a bout with fellow fiftysomething George Foreman fell through, Holmes instead fought Butterbean in Virginia in 2002, winning comfortably on points over 10 rounds.
7 FIRAT ARSLAN (52)
While being matched carefully, German cruiserweight Arslan is still active and winning. The former WBA titleholder (2007-08) turns 53 in September and last fought in May. He is 20-1-1 in 22 bouts since 2015.
8 DEWEY BOZELLA (52)
Bozella served 26 years in prison on a false conviction for murder. He boxed behind bars and, after his conviction was quashed in 2009, he stated his dream to have at least one pro bout. He did this in 2011, aged 52, beating Larry Hopkins at cruiserweight in LA.
9 BERNARD HOPKINS (51)
The oldest world champion of all time, light-heavyweight Hopkins was knocked out of the ring and into permanent retirement in December 2016, 29 days before his 52nd birthday, by Joe Smith in Inglewood.
10 ALICIA ASHLEY (50)
Jamaica’s ‘Slick’ entered the Hall of Fame this year for a career which included a late-40s run as WBC super-bantam champ. She was 50 when she last fought; a close points defeat to Dina Thorslund in Austria.
Discussion about this post