At age 41, former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, WBA and WBC Super Middleweight and WBO, IBF and WBA world champion, Andre ‘S.O.G.’ and International Boxing Federation Hall of Fame inductee, is making a comeback after eight years of retirement.
Possibly coming back at heavyweight in a fight with former world champion Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua, Ward will be a solid underdog.
After winning back-to-back fights defending against former WBO, WBA, and IBF world light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, he ended his career after taking a disputed decision to win and retired from boxing after suffering a knee injury in training.
The Oakland, California boxer ended his career with a 32-0 record with sixteen stoppages after compiling a 115-5 amateur record. At the Athens, Greece Olympics in 2004, he defeated boxers from Italy, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Belarus in the finals.
With others coming back after the age of 50 Ward joins the over 40 club. He had served as a boxing commentator in recent years.
After the former world heavyweight champion came back at age 59, losing to Jake Paul in November, others have come back in their 50s. He has lost four of his last five fights, and another fight is in doubt.
Former unbeaten heavyweight contender 52-year-old Ike ‘President’ Ibeabuchi returned to the ring after 25 years of inactivity in Lagos, Nigeria. His current record is 21-0 with 16 stoppages.
What is your opinion on these comebacks not only after 40, but 50?