Comebacks in the sport of Boxing is something that is as old as the sport itself. In the 1980s, however, two legends of the ring, Sugar Ray Leonard and the late great George Foreman made the concept of a fighter coming out of retirement for a would be “Comeback" popular.
While the idea of a fighter coming out of retirement after a lengthy absence to attempt a comeback either in search of recapturing past glory and/or for financial reasons will always get people's attention, most would be accurate to state that the most successful of all the comebacks ever attempted throughout the whole history of the sport would be that of Foreman's, who famously returned to Boxing as a means of funding the George Foreman Youth and Community Center in his native Houston, TX in an effort to further his outreach as a practicing pastor, in his 40s and regained the World Heavyweight championship at age 45 in 1994 and in the process, became the oldest fighter to ever become World Heavyweight champion, a record he still holds to this day.
Although this observer can spend countless hours talking about the achievements of both Foreman and Leonard as two of my influences who I watched as a kid and were fortunate to cover in my early days as a writer covering combat sports, with Boxing as my primary, in more recent years, thanks to the influx of exhibitions becoming a defacto circuit of the sport, it has in some ways, unfortunately become common to see ex fighters mix it up with either fellow ex boxers, social media influencers, or stars from another sport, we have seen these fighters step back in at far more advanced ages than Foreman or Leonard ever did, which puts the hysteria and concerns for their safety that both legends faced prior to their famed comebacks in perspective.
Most are familiar with the exploits of two other Hall of Famers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, who each got back in the ring at ages closer to sixty than forty to participate in exhibitions and in Tyson's case, one official fight, two instances that had controversy attached to both fighters, no fighters has made an attempt to surpass Foreman's record since he set it thirty-two years ago. In good conscience, yours truly feels that is more of a good thing than it should be viewed as a negative. Both from a standpoint of the significance of Foreman's achievement, as well as the inherent risks that become an increased probability as fighters age.
Some may recall the comeback attempt of former longtime Heavyweight contender Donovan “Razor" Ruddock, who at age fifty-one in 2015, climbed back in the ring. The former top contender, who shared the ring with many of the top Heavyweights of the 1980s and 1990s including six former world champions got himself in what can only be described as immaculate shape and to his credit, won two fights against fighters named Raymond Olubowale and Eric Barrak, before all hopes for a comeback approaching contender status were halted by Dillon Carman in a failed bid by the Canadian-based Rudduck to regain the Canadian Heavyweight championship he won in 1988, in what was described as a brutal third round knockout.
With the exception of Tyson, who’s exhibition against Roy Jones in 2020 and his official bout against Jake Paul in 2024, would not be considered legitimate comeback attempts, and the fairly recent return of former WBC World Heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, both fighters closer to age sixty than they were when either were considered contenders, I personally have not given much thought to the idea of not just a Heavyweight, but of any fighter attempting what would be considered a serious comeback post the age of fifty. Not because it would not peak my interest, but because frankly, there are not many fighters around that are making such attempts.
It did, however, come as a bit of a surprise to yours truly when I recently learned that former World Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman would be making such an attempt at age fifty-three. Rahman, as some may recall, is a former two-time World Heavyweight champion, who like Rudduck and McCall, shared the ring with many of the top Heavyweights of his era. Unlike Rudduck and more similar to McCall, however, he does not always get the respect afforded to many who have been a World Heavyweight champion, despite winning a world title twice during his career.
The similarity is that like Oliver McCall, Rahman’s reigns as champion were relatively short between when the titles were won and lost in terms of time. Nevertheless, through the ups and downs that typically comes with a long career inside the Boxing ring, Rahman was still one of the best fighters of his era in the Heavyweight division.
One does have to wonder, however, what the motivation might be for Rahman at fifty-three years old to get back into active competition. For his part, Rahman has stated that his bout on July 14th at the ESL Ballpark in Rochester, NY against an unnamed opponent as of this writing will be an attempt to get himself into position to challenge for another world title with the ultimate goal of breaking George Foreman’s record. While that may indeed be part of the motivation here, some may also speculate that an underlying motivation could be financial. After all, many professional athletes for one reason or another experience financial difficulties after their active careers end and it would not be unheard of to think of a former world champion boxer being enticed to return to the ring to solve whatever difficulties they might be going through financially. For better or worse Boxing does offer a quicker than normal path for those blessed with the ability, to make money in an expedited form as compared to other occupations and/or for those who were not fortunate to be blessed with the gift to be a world-class boxer.
Although Rahman has not indicated that he is motivated by finances, the idea of being in a position to secure a lucrative payday, especially given his name recognition, has to have been at least thought of. Regardless of what his motivation truly is, what should be of concern to anyone who truly cares for him is when he retired in 2014, he ended his career off two consecutive losses with his last fight coming in a Super 8 Heavyweight tournament where he lost a three round decision to a fighter named Anthony Nansen, a fighter who at the time of that fight held in Auckland, New Zealand, had a record of 3-3, with 1 Knockout going into that bout.
While the perception for the last several years prior to that outing and his knockout loss to longtime Heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin prior to that was that Rahman was competitively past his peak, often a layoff of a decade or more may rest and recoup the body, that length of inactivity does not reverse the gradual eroding of skills and slowed reflexes that often are the telltale signs of an aging fighter. As heralded and historic as George Foreman's comeback proved to be, it is important to remember that he spent the first couple of years of that comeback fighting against fighters who were deliberately overmatched and it allowed him to adequately get himself back in fighting shape by fighting often where when he gradually did step up his level of competition, he was ready and proved he could hold his own against the top Heavyweights of the late 1980s and 1990s.
At fifty-three years old, one has to wonder what type of commitment Rahman will have if he is able to string together a couple of wins. What is a concern to this observer beyond the obvious eroding skills that were present when he retired and have likely become more visible with age is because he is considerably older than Foreman was when he began his comeback, the plan will likely be to get a few wins under his belt in an expedited manner and attempt to move him into position to challenge for a world title sooner than later because obviously time is not on his side and the idea of him getting an opportunity based on name recognition value more so than whether he's ready to compete against a contender or world champion, unfortunately seems more likely than not.
Hasim Rahman is a smart man, it is my hope regardless of who may be his opponent in July that he, knowing the history of successful and failed comebacks, will evaluate his performance on a fight by fight basis and will make a decision on whether it is wise to continue before the risk of injury becomes more of an increasing issue.
“And That's The Boxing Truth."
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