Ranking the Best Boxers over 40 Years Old
That point when a boxer suddenly starts to show his age can be hard to predict, but it's obvious when you see it in the ring. Suddenly his punches don't have the same power, his reactions aren't as quick with his countershots, and it takes longer for him to recover from big punches and tough fights.
For some boxers, that point may come in their early 30s if they were a fighter who engaged in too many brawls during their career. For others who maybe started their career later or were more defensive-minded in the ring, that point may not come until after they pass the age of 40.
Being able to maintain successful production and performance past the age of 40 is rare in most sports, but you do see some quarterbacks in the NFL or baseball players pull it off. With all due respect to those athletes, continuing to be successful in boxing, where you're having punches thrown at you, is a whole different level.
Fighters who are able to win matches over legit opponents and even win a title past the age of 40 in boxing deserve a lot of respect regardless of how pretty the matches look or what they did during the earlier portion of their career.
This list was kept to fighters who are near the top of their division, or at least inside the top 10, because I didn't want to include boxers who were clearly way past their prime and just sadly hanging on for paychecks. It also includes only active fighters and isn't a ranking of the best fighters past the age of 40 all time.
4. Sam Soliman
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Record After 40: 2-1 (1 KO); won the IBF middleweight title over Felix Sturm in May 2014
Current Rank: Ninth-best middleweight by The Ring magazine, 62nd on BoxRec.com's top 100 pound-for-pound list
The last time we saw Sam Soliman in the ring, it didn't go so well, as he was knocked down four times by Jermain Taylor in his first defense of the IBF middleweight championship.
Not to make excuses, but had he not hurt his leg, I think Soliman looked capable of winning a close decision over Taylor that night. After all, the judges gave Taylor only eight and seven rounds, respectively, on the scorecards with Soliman fighting half the match on one leg, so it was within range of swinging the other way.
All due credit to Taylor for taking advantage—after all, it was his knockdown that caused the leg injury—when an opportunity presented itself, but that wasn't the best effort Soliman is capable of, even at this point in his career.
That being said, other than a rematch with Taylor, there's no way Soliman can defeat the other two current champions—Miguel Cotto and Gennady Golovkin—at middleweight, so his days as a champion are likely over.
3. Cornelius "K9" Bundrage
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Record After 40: 2-0 with one win that made him the IBF junior middleweight champion
Current Rank: Sixth-best junior middleweight by ESPN, ninth-best junior middleweight by The Ring magazine, 29th overall on BoxRec.com's top 100 pound-for-pound list
Former The Contender contestant Cornelius Bundrage regained the IBF junior middleweight title recently that he previously held and successfully defended twice between 2010 and 2012 before losing it to Ishe Smith in September 2013.
Picking the right matchups for Bundrage going forward will be key for him and his ability to hang on to the belt. He was able to take advantage of a rusty Carlos Molina—13-month layoff—who likely had been distracted during training camp by a tumultuous previous year to win the belt.
Bundrage had just one match each in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, so don't expect to see him pick up the pace with his schedule now that he has his belt back. It would be wise for him and his group to pick their spots and find the matchups that suit him.
Every other fighter in the top 10 at junior middleweight—besides Molina—would likely be favored over Bundrage, but even winning a major belt past the age of 40 is an accomplishment that he should be very proud of.
2. Juan Manuel Marquez
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Record After 40: 1-1; won a lopsided decision over Mike Alvarado in May 2014 and lost a close split-decision to Timothy Bradley—also in the top 10 pound-for-pound list for every site—in October 2013
Current Rank: No. 4 on the pound-for-pound list by ESPN, No. 6 on the P4P list by The Ring magazine and No. 4 on BoxRec.com's top 100 P4P list
Juan Manuel Marquez turned in one of the best performances of his career with a 12-round blowout victory over Mike Alvarado in what was scheduled to be a title elimination fight for the belt held by Manny Pacquiao.
His timing was sharp, his power even at age 40 shook Alvarado, and his stamina and chin didn't look like they had dropped off at all.
Unfortunately for the fans, Pacquiao decided to defend his belt against 140-pound champion Chris Algieri instead of making a fifth fight with Marquez, but regardless, Marquez proved with the victory over Alvarado that he's still at the top of his game.
Going back to his lopsided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Marquez has won six of his last eight fights, but an argument could be made that he deserved to win both of those matches where he came out on the wrong side on the scorecards.
Marquez last held a major belt three years ago before losing it in a controversial majority-decision loss to Pacquiao in November 2011.
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1. Bernard Hopkins
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Record After 40: 10-4-1 with one no-decision; two successful defenses of his IBF light heavyweight title at age 48 and 49, which included unifying the belts against Beibut Shumenov, who was just 30 years old at the time
Current Rank: No. 2 ranked light heavyweight by The Ring magazine, No. 3-ranked light heavyweight by ESPN and 35th on BoxRec.com's top 100 P4P list
Bernard Hopkins was naturally an obvious choice to be at the top when filling out this list. "The Executioner" or "The Alien" or whatever you want to call him, it doesn't matter, just call him one of the most accomplished fighters ever past the age of 40.
Hopkins has defeated three reigning world champions over the past three years—all while past the age of 45—and is on the verge of possibly owning three of the four major title belts in his division. Defeating Sergey Kovalev will be no easy task, but anyone counting Hopkins out hasn't been paying attention.
His defense and timing are still sharp, his strategy and questionable tactics inside the ring to throw off his opponents are still working, and he even scored a late knockdown during his last fight against Shumenov.
You can't buy experience, and Hopkins has that quality by the truckload.
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