Will wheels fall off boxing’s over-40 bandwagon?
It may seem like a trend, though it's not. It may seem like the wave of the future, but anyone who loves boxing had better hope it's not the case.
Watching men 40 years old and more fight for world championships isn't something that is good for the long-term health of boxing. Just a few weeks after 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins made boxing history by becoming the oldest fighter even to win a major world title, 42-year-old Glen Johnson will attempt to move into the finals of Showtime's Super Six tournament Saturday when he meets Carl Froch at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Hopkins' May 21 victory over Jean Pascal for the World Boxing Council light heavyweight belt was clearly a signature night for the sport. Hopkins was in marvelous physical condition and fought like a man half his age in outpointing Pascal and surpassing the then-45-year-old George Foreman as the oldest man ever to win a world championship.
Johnson will no doubt pressure Froch and bring the fight to the reigning WBC super middleweight champion in a way that few others in the world could do.
It's great for Hopkins and Johnson that they are so in shape and still so remarkably competitive at their advanced boxing ages. The danger, though, is that they may spawn copycats and there are few out there with their genetic gifts.
Boxing has always been a haven for a hard-luck story and there is nothing more hard-luck than a once-great champion still fighting long past his prime because he needs the money. It's reportedly why Roy Jones Jr. keeps going and why, even after he was knocked out in the 10th round on May 21 by Denis Lebedev, that he didn't definitely say he'd quit.
Promoters anxious to build a star far too often have no hesitation using the name of someone like Jones to do it.
Guys like Hopkins and Johnson are the very rare exceptions to the rule. For everyone like those two, there are dozens like Jones and Evander Holyfield, who fight on in spite of the danger that faces them with their diminishing skill.
Froch, 33, said he can't imagine fighting anywhere close to his 40th birthday, let alone past it.
"I won't be hanging around until I'm 42, I can guarantee you that," he said. "I'll be hanging up the gloves long before I'm 40. Bernard Hopkins is a one in 10 million case. He's genetically gifted, but he's a one-off. Guys like Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield, it's sad to see what is happening. That's something to worry about."
Johnson, who knocked out 31-year-old Allan Green in the eighth round in November to advance to the Super Six semifinals, is in a similar position as Hopkins. He doesn't look much different at 42 than he did at 32.
He eats right, takes care of his body and is constantly in the gym. But he's as much a product of good genes as he is hard work. There just aren't many with his genetic makeup, which Johnson himself concedes.
He doesn't want to be an inspiration to other aging fighters, because what is right for one isn't necessarily right for all.
"Bernard Hopkins is tremendous, he's great," said Johnson, who lost to Hopkins in 1997 in a bid for the middleweight title when Hopkins was 32 and he was 28. "He's the difficult prototype. He shows you that you can definitely do things way past when people expect, if you go about your business the right way. I fail to believe the human body just breaks down at 35.
"But I would hate to see anybody do what they do based on age. The important thing for every fighter is to be honest with himself and do an honest evaluation. There are guys like Hopkins and I, who can still fight at a very high level past our 40th birthday, but there are other guys who can't do it past 30. No one should say, 'Well, if Glen Johnson can do it' or 'If Bernard Hopkins can do it, so can I.' Each person has to understand his own body and what he brings to the table."
Johnson is a pressure fighter, who gives and receives a lot of blows. Typically, that's the type of fighter who doesn't have a long shelf life, but Johnson still has the reflexes and still has the pop that he had at the time he faced Hopkins.
Johnson was 35 when he was named the Fighter of the Year in 2004 by the Boxing Writers Association of America when he decisioned Clinton Woods and Antonio Tarver sandwiched around a ninth-round knockout of Jones. Since turning 40, he's 3-2, but the two losses came in title fights to Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud.
Froch is about a 4-1 favorite, but that hasn't deterred Johnson or his team one bit. They're convinced Johnson will hand Froch only his second career loss and advance to the finals, where 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward awaits.
Even Ward, who at 27 is 15 years and one month younger than Johnson, calls the bout with Froch a tossup. Johnson trainer Orlando Cuellar won't even go that far.
"Glen has been there and done that and seen every style," Cuellar said. "He has beaten every style. No man has ever beaten up Glen Johnson and it won't be happening in this next fight, either. We know Carl's strengths, and we'll get around those. We know his weaknesses, and we'll expose those. Carl has been in with good fighters, but now he's in with one of the most successful fighters of the last 10 years."
Guys like Johnson and Hopkins should be role models to other fighters for their dedication to their craft and for their willingness to test their limits.
Hopefully, though, they won't be used as inspirations by the likes of Jones and Holyfield, who have hung around far too long for their own good. Very little good comes of getting your brain rattled for one extra payday.
Guys like Johnson and Hopkins are great stories only if other aging boxers view them as genetic mutants, like Froch does, instead of as examples to try to emulate.
