Oldest World Champions in Boxing History

We take a look at the top five oldest world champions in boxing history.

On Saturday, Manny Pacquiao will attempt to defy the odds, logic and Father Time as he challenges Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title, at 46 years of age.

Aging fighters do not tend to fair well in world title tilts, but ‘Pacman’ has a history of pulling off the improbable; be it capturing belts in eight weight classes or becoming the oldest welterweight to win a title, when he defeated Keith Thurman at 40.

The Filipino phenom is 11/5 to surpass his own record, and while conventional logic dictates that he will come up short, he is not the only boxer to have successfully raged against the dying of the light.

Let’s have a look at five other fighters who proved age is just a number by winning a world title in their 40s…

Bernard Hopkins - 49 years, 94 days

‘The Alien’ has broken the record for oldest boxer to win a world title on three occasions.

First, in 2011, he defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC light-heavyweight title, at the age of 46. Two years later, he bettered the feat by winning the IBF 175lbs strap against Tavoris Cloud. Somehow, he added the WBA version to his collection as he squeezed past Beibut Shumenov in a unification while 49 years young.

Despite keeping himself in incredible shape, rust never sleeps, and the aging process finally caught up to boxing’s elder statesman as he was stopped by Sergey Kovalev.

Hopkins essentially had two separate Hall of Fame worthy careers; first as undisputed middleweight champion, then as the light-heavyweight record breaker.

A true legend.

George Foreman - 45 years, 299 days

The comeback which has inspired many an aging fighter to lace up the gloves and roll the dice one last time.

Having been involved in legendary fights during the ‘70s against: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, ‘Big George’ returned to the ring in the late ‘80s, after a decade-long absence, in a bid to earn money for his church.

The iconic afro had been replaced by a shiny bald head and the muscular frame was considerably larger and softer than in his heyday.

Defeats to Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison appeared to put paid to any world title aspirations held by the former heavyweight king, but Foreman refused to give up.

In 1994, his unwavering self-belief was rewarded as he shocked the world, stopping Michael Moorer to win the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles aged 46.

He remains the oldest heavyweight champion in history.

Thulani Malinga - 42 years, 8 days

The South African appeared destined to be a nearly-man; a talented fighter, but one destined to come up short against the best.

‘Sugar Boy’ gave a good account of himself when he challenged Graciano Rocchigiani and Lindell Holmes for the IBF super-middleweight strap, but it was not enough.

Another title shot materialised against Chris Eubank. Malinga pushed ‘Simply the Best’ to the limit but had to settled for a split decision defeat.

In 1996, at 40 years old, the man from Ladysmith received an opportunity, against Nigel Benn, for the WBC super-middleweight belt. The pair had met four years previous and only half a point separated them on the referees scorecard, but most felt Malinga was past his best.

‘Sugar Boy’ silenced the naysayers by outpointing ‘The Destroyer,’ finally capturing the world title which had eluded him.

He lost the title in his first defence, but got another attempt against Robin Reid. At this stage, Malinga was 42, but he boxed brilliantly, becoming the oldest super-middleweight titlist of all-time.

Virgil Hill - 42 years, 9 days

For a decade, the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic silver medallist, was amongst the best light-heavyweights on the planet, but those were his prime years, that’s not what we are interested in.

10 years after he lost his unified titles at 175lbs, the 42-year-old outclassed, undefeated Russian, Valery Brudov for the WBA cruiserweight title.

Purists would argue that the inclusion of ‘Quicksilver’ is a stretch as it was only the ‘Regular’ belt which the American won.

However, given that he fell short against, ‘Super’ champion, Jean Marc Mormeck by the slimmest of margins, the slick Missouri native is worthy of his place on this list.

Cornelius Bundrage - 41 years, 169 days

Having risen to fame as part of The Contender TV series, it was a long round to title contention for ‘The Dog,’ as he suffered shock defeats and a No Contest along the way.

When the opportunity finally arose in 2010, he grabbed it with both hands, halting Cory Spinks, for the IBF light-middleweight strap.

His title reign was uninspiring, as he defended the belt once a year before losing to Ishe Smith.

It appeared that would be the end for Bundrage at the top level, but he outfought Carlos Molina to win back his old belt, aged 41.

His second stint as champion was short lived, as he dropped the belt to Jermall Charlo in his next bout.