THE SPORT of boxing has a long history of fighters hanging up their gloves for good… then putting them back on again.
With the highly anticipated exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr inching closer, other boxing greats are reportedly toying with the idea of a return to the ring.
Here are five boxing legends stepping back into the fight game years after their retirement.
Mike Tyson
After a 15-year break, Mike Tyson announced his return to the boxing ring following weeks of hype and videos posted to social media of him sparring and getting back in shape.
The former undisputed heavyweight champ will compete in an exhibition bout against former four-division champion Roy Jones Jr on November 28.
Iron Mike was a force in the heavyweight division during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He became the youngest boxing heavyweight champion when he captured the belt at just 20-years-old.
Now at 54, Tyson has laced up his gloves again – and has shown in training that he still packs a heavy right hook.
The heavyweight slugger last fought in 2005, quitting at the start of the eighth against Kevin McBride.
Roy Jones Jr
Roy Jones Jr, 51, possessed exceptional hand speed, athleticism, movement and reflexes.
Nicknamed “Captain Hook,” he is considered as one of the best boxers of all time, excelling in the five weight divisions he competed in.
During his career, Jones held titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and the heavyweight class.
He is the only boxer in history to start his professional career at junior middleweight and go on to win the heavyweight title.
The once untouchable fighter answered Tyson’s call for an exhibition.
The 51-year-old is two years removed from the ring after hanging up his gloves in 2018, after a win over Scott Sigmon.
Oscar De La Hoya
One of sports most celebrated boxers, “the Golden Boy” shocked the world when he announced his return to the ring earlier this year at the age of 47.
“The rumors are true, and I’m going to start sparring in the next [few] weeks. It’s a real fight. I miss being in the ring. I love boxing. Boxing is what gave me everything I have today, and I miss it,” he told ESPN in August.
Oscar De La Hoya won 10 world championship in six different weight divisions and earned more money in his career than any fighter who came before him.
De La Hoya displayed a stunning skill-set and considerable power across his 39 wins, 30 by knockout.
He is regarded as the boxer who got the sport “back on its feet” when he entered the scene in the early 1990s.
During his 16-year professional career he fought some of the greatest names in the sport, including Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Hector Camacho and Julio Cesar Chavez.
Despite his age, “The Golden Boy” has displayed that his blistering hand speed and power punches are still intact during training videos for his return.
Ahead of his comeback, De La Hoya was called out by fellow Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez.
The 58-year-old lost twice to De La Hoya.
In 1996, the referee told Chavez’s corner their boxer could not continue the fight due to lacerations to his face, awarding De La Hoya a TKO victory.
In 1998, The Mexican icon was again outgunned by De La Hoya when Chavez’s corner ended the fight in the eighth round.
Evander Holyfield
Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield was a 200-pound bruiser who reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion during the early 1990s.
He remains the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes, both the heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions.
Holyfield is also the only boxer to win the world heavyweight title on four separate occasions, having held the unified WBA, WBC and IBF championships from 1990 to 1992.
A lean and mean Holyfield teased his 393,000 Instagram followers last month with a video of him getting his hands wrapped for training ahead of a potential comeback.
In one video, the 57-year-old is seen swimming and shadow boxing underwater – like Muhammad Ali.
These days Holyfield looks more like a cruiserweight than during his prime when he was a beefed-up heavyweight slugger.
Julio Cesar Chavez
“El Gran Campeon Mexicano” Julio Cesar Chavez made a dramatic comeback in 2019 in an exhibition bout against fellow veteran Jorge Arce.
Fourteen years removed from the ring, the Mexican fighter competed in his last professional fight in 2005, losing to Grover Wiley after his corner stopped the bout in the fifth round.
Chavez, now 58, gave spectators glimpses of his former punching power in a behind-closed-doors fight in Tijuana, Mexico last month, with the proceedings donated to charity to support Chavez’s drug rehab center.
Before their September 25 contest, both men competed in two prior fights – once in November 2019 and again in March 2020.
In his prime, Chavez was a four division champ that had an unprecedented start to his career by winning 87 straight fights without a loss.
He was a fighter with a fierce and swarming style that few fighters have been able to replicate.
