Ike Ibeabuchi’s comeback after more than 26 years is extraordinary – but history is filled with boxers who vanished for decades before lacing up the gloves again. Here, Luke G. Williams goes looking for the longest lay-offs in boxing history.
Ike Ibeabuchi’s scheduled return to the ring this Saturday – a massive 26 years and 156 days since his last appearance in a professional ring against Chris Byrd – got me thinking about what the longest ‘lay-offs’ are in the history of professional boxing.
An initial consultation with the Guinness Book of Records suggested that the mercurial Nigerian heavyweight will set a new world record for the “longest interval between two professional boxing fights” when he squares off against countryman Idris Afinni in a 12-round heavyweight showdown in Lagos.
According to Guinness, the current holder of this record is Sal ‘Rocky’ Cenicola. The popular New Jersey lightweight – managed at one point by Sylvester Stallone – had a 25-year and 66-day gap between losing to Mexico’s Louie Lomeli on 6 February, 1988, and his return in a four-round bout against Nathan ‘Nate’ Petty on 13 April, 2013.
Ranked in the top ten at 135lbs at one point during the 1980s, Cenicola was close to earning a world title shot before losses to Bryant Paden and the aforementioned Lomeli checked his progress.
After losing to Lomeli, Cenciola retired – aged just 28 – citing a desire to stay healthy and injury free, as well as his disgust with being forced into the fight by promoters despite carrying a hamstring injury.
It was a decision he later seemed to regret. Ahead of his bout against Petty – a former prison guard who shifted 100lbs after beginning his career as a heavyweight – Cenicola admitted: “This is something that has been on my mind for years. It’s unfinished business for me. I retired from boxing unfulfilled and left with a bad taste in my mouth after my last fight. I’ve always loved the game and I feel 25 years old now that I’m getting back into it.”
After beating Petty by unanimous decision, Cenicola resisted the urge to keep fighting and returned to his day job as a restaurateur.
So with Ibeabuchi about to overhaul Cenicola’s mark, he will become the new world record holder on Saturday, right? Well, not quite.
After doing a bit more digging, I discovered – thanks to records kept by Henry Hascup of Boxrec – that Guinness has somehow overlooked an even more extended career interval.
Albert Hughes, a Vietnam War veteran, amassed a modest 9-7-4 record after turning pro in 1975. He quit the ring in 1983, only to then return in December 2019 at the age of 70 – a staggering interval of 36 years and 323 days between fights.
A second-round stoppage victory over Tramane Towns saw Hughes enter the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest professional boxer (male) in history – although the fact he overhauled Cenicola’s long lay-off record seemingly went unnoticed.
According to Boxrec, England’s Steve Ward, once the holder of the record for oldest professional boxer, also had a ring absence longer than Cenicola and Ibeabuchi – with it being 28 years and 340 days between his 1987 contest against Frank Grant and his 2015 showdown with Jody Meikle.
However, Boxrec’s account of Ward’s career seems to be incomplete, with multiple press reports concerning a 2011 showdown with Greg Scott-Briggs, which earned the then 55-year-old recognition as the oldest professional boxer in history (a mark later overhauled by, among others, the aforementioned Hughes).
Ward’s ring record is complicated by the fact that some of his contests don’t seem to have been sanctioned, or recognised, by the British Boxing Board of Control. Given the question marks over his record, I’ve included him in the below countdown of the 20 longest intervals between professional bouts with an asterisk attached.
Among the high-profile names to also appear in this top 20 are Mike Tyson, former Muhammad Ali victim Jean-Pierre Coopman, Carlos Palomino, Tony Ayala Jr and Ron Lyle.
George Foreman, the most successful example of a boxer who returned to the ring after a long lay-off, doesn’t even crack the top 20, with his ring absence of a comparatively paltry 9 years and 357 days.
While perusing the list, bear in mind that boxing history is messy. Records get lost, fights go unrecognised, and even the indispensable BoxRec isn’t infallible. Furthermore, exactly what constitutes a professional boxing match, in terms of exactly what criteria deems it ‘official’, is something there isn’t always unanimity of agreement on. As such, any list of the longest ring absences will always be open to debate and revision.
History also suggests that, when fighters do return after a long lay-off, the results are seldom pretty. So whatever the record books say, when Ibeabuchi walks through the ropes this weekend, he won’t just be fighting Idris Afinni; he’ll be fighting the weight of 26 lost years.
20-longest ring absences, according to BoxRec
1. Albert Hughes – 36 years, 323 days
2. Ike Ibeabuchi – 26 years, 156 days*
3. Sal Cenicola – 25 years, 66 days
4. Steve Ward – 23 years, ? days**
5. Jean Paul Arsenault – 21 years, 139 days
6. Freddy DeKerpel – 21 years, 88 days
7. Mark Weinman – 20 years, 353 days
8. Levi Forte – 20 years, 311 days
9. Mike Tyson – 19 years, 157 days
10. Bobby Halpern – 17 years, 327 days
11. Jean-Pierre Coopman – 17 years, 324 days
12. Carlos Palomino – 17 years, 202 days
13. Fred Houpe – 17 years, 23 days
14. Johnny Gant – 16 years, 307 days
15. Kenny Lane – 16 years, 265 days
16. Tony Ayala Jr – 16 years, 273 days
17. Ron Wilson – 16 years, 46 days
18. Paul Poirier – 15 years, 289 days
19. Ricky Womack – 15 years, 166 days
20. Ron Lyle – 14 years, 165 days
* Assuming his fight with Idris Afinni scheduled for this weekend goes ahead.
** The date of Ward vs Greg Scott-Briggs in 2011 is unclear.
