It appears that when professional boxing resumes, it is not only the hush puppies of the sport who will be dashing out of the corral and jumping straight into to the boxing cauldron.
A number of former champions, who had long retreated to the retirement pasture, have apparently developed the itch to fight again while on quarantine. At the moment, the names that have cropped up are former champions Lucas Matthysse, Marcos Maidana, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and, hold your breath, Oscar De La Hoya.
Argentina’s Matthysse, 39-5 with 36 knockouts, was last seen in the ring getting knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in July 2018. Once a feared puncher who sowed terror in the junior welterweight (140 lbs.) division, Matthysse put up an anemic performance in bowing to Pacquiao in seven rounds. Now 37, and inactive for almost two years, Matthysse is mulling on returning to the ring. Truth be told, Matthysse may no longer have anything to offer. Inactivity and a slew of injuries have greatly diminished Matthysse’s skills.
Matthysse’s countryman, Marcos Maidana, is also gearing up for a possible return. Maidana’s last fight was a competitive, albeit unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2014. Apparently, the estimated $10 million he earned from back-to-back fights with Mayweather Jr. convinced Maidana to retire early. Th waistline of Maidana (35-5, 31 knockouts) ballooned while in hibernation and he is currently working on bringing his weight down.
Maidana, 36, was supposed to return last year and was in fact guaranteed a hefty purse for a fight at middleweight, but he changed his mind at the last-minute. Maidana claimed he did not feel good when he started working out, but there were loose whispers that he was really demanding more money from promoters. Before the coronavirus knocked out boxing, Maidana was mulling on fighting a heavyweight kickboxer this year. A month ago, Maidana reiterated his interest to enter the ring again. Maidana, however, still has a lot of pounds to lose before he is taken seriously.
The biggest returnee is clearly former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. The former undisputed heavyweight champ, 53, recently announced that he is returning to the sport by way of exhibition bouts (a plan that may be instantly upgraded to regular fights).Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) impressed many with some awesome work on the mitts although it remains to be seen how he will fare against somebody who actually hits back. In the 15 years that he has been inactive, Tyson battled depression and substance abuse. He appears to have conquered his demons, becoming a successful cannabis farm owner.
Shortly after Tyson declared “I’m back,” former rival Evander Holyfield announced that he is also lacing on the gloves again. Holyfield, 57, retired in 2011 after stopping Brian Nielsen. Holyfield stopped Tyson in 11 rounds in November 1996 and got away with a disqualification victory in the rematch in June 1997 after Tyson chewed a portion of his ear. While it has been reported that Tyson is likely to take on 48-year-old Shannon Briggs (inactive for 4 years) in an exhibition bout, Holyfield (44-10, 2 draws, 29 knockouts) has not ruled out a third meeting with ‘Iron’ Mike.
Holyfield earned over $200 million in boxing and once lived in a mansion that had 109 rooms and a 135-seat theater, but the money is gone and he now lives in a modest two-bedroom apartment. Reckless spending and bad business deals drained Holyfield’s coffers. He is definitely returning for the money as he now makes most of his income on personal appearances.
The biggest surprise is the emergence of the name Oscar De La Hoya in the list. Boxing’s “Golden Boy” is already 47 years old and has not fought since getting battered by Pacquiao in 2008.
De La Hoya, 39-6 with 30 knockouts, earned a lot of media mileage after he recently claimed that he would only need two rounds to demolish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor.
McGregor, who was humiliated by Mayweather, Jr. in his boxing debut in August 2017, immediately responded by accepting De La Hoya’s challenge. However, De La Hoya clarified that he was not really returning to the ring and was just driving home the point that McGregor does not belong in a boxing ring. De La Hoya is now a successful promoter, calling the shots for Golden Boy Promotions which he founded in 2002.
De La Hoya may have made it clear that he is finished with boxing, but if fossils like Tyson and Holyfield can change their minds, anything can still happen. There is so much money flowing in the sport today and a former champion can still bring home a hefty paycheck by riding solely on name recall. It’s the sad reality of boxing, but it also shows how the fans long for the warriors of yesteryears who fought anyone placed in front of them in the ring. They walked the talk, so to speak, unlike many of today’s young champions who spend most of their time throwing verbal jabs at each other on Twitter.
