Just because Mike Tyson did not perform like his old self in November against Jake Paul, it does not mean other luminaries of a certain age are not tempted to glove up one more time.
Tyson looked 58, fit and fearsome relative to regular folks, but not when compared and contrasted with YouTube Iron Mike. After losing to the 28-year-old influencer-entertainer, Tyson admitted he’d gotten swept up in the story, in the possible majesty of middle-aged triumph, only to feel deflated when reality visited. He will continue to get offers to put those gloves on again, and the same can be said for other athletes who left the game.
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, or a Wladimir Klitschko, makes news with a return to the ring. GGG is 42 years old, his birthday is April 18. Klitschko is 48, and his birth date is March 25. Those two pugilists have been promoted by boxing lifer Tom Loeffler, who visited NYC to hype his March 16 MSG Theater card topped by 154-pound contender Callum Walsh.
Has GGG Retired?
I asked Loeffler about Golovkin, the unassuming Kazakh who held sway at 160 and last toed the line Sept 2022 in a loss to Canelo Alvarez. Also, Wladimir, “little Klitschko,” recently admitted that the urge to compete still bubbles up inside him.
“No breaking news on the Triple G front,” Loeffler told me. “He’s involved with amateur boxing now, the Kazakh National team and the Olympic Committee. So, he’s gone in that direction. GGG hasn’t announced his retirement, but he has also not announced that he’s coming back. Was there anything that was in the works that the media didn’t know about the last couple of years? No, nothing. The last Canelo fight was his last fight and ever since then, there really hasn’t been anything in the works. I know a lot of people would like to see him come back. I’d love to see him come back. But there haven’t been any serious discussions of him actually getting back in the ring, at least not as of now.” What if GGG chose to come back for another tango? “He’s one of those guys, like George Foreman, one of the biggest punchers in the sport of boxing, and that’s the last thing to go. I would support him just like I’d support Wladimir Klitschko. Wladimir is one of the most fit guys that I’ve ever seen, at his age, so if anyone could do that, if anyone could come back….”
Wlad Lost To Fury, Then AJ, Then Retired
What might tempt Wlad to get back to the ring? He got stopped by Anthony Joshua in April 2017, which stands as the last entry in his outing ledger. “Wladimir never got the rematch with Tyson Fury,” Loeffler said. “It was contracted for a rematch. Fury got that decision over him (Nov 2015), and that is still there…would be null after that time; we don’t know. I know that was an open check he wanted to cash to get Fury back in the ring.” Fury announced his re/retirement last week, but two months from now, who knows?
My Three Cents: We can know this. The urge to compete remains in the blood of, I dare say, most top-level athletes. It does not dissipate with the passage of time as much as maybe younger folks believe.
Tyson still wondered if he could turn back the clock and was happy to make a ton of loot in the process. Do you think the same sort of rumblings don’t hit a GGG and/or Wladimir Klitschko? Rhetorical question— It could be both Golovkin and Wlad re-enter the fray and see what’s left in 2025. Much stranger things have and will happen.
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