When Mike Tyson steps into the ring to face Jake Paul, he will be the oldest professional boxer many fans have ever seen. However, there is a record he cannot claim – that of the world’s oldest professional boxer, a title that belongs to Albert Hughes Jr.
In 2019, at the age of 70, Hughes Jr. returned to the ring for a professional fight for the first time in over 30 years. After serving in the US Army and fighting in the Vietnam War in his youth, he had taken up boxing and won the Indiana Golden Gloves amateur middleweight competition at the Tyndall Armoury in 1974. He then had 20 professional fights between 1975 and 1979, before taking a break and returning for a one-off contest in 1983.
Hughes Jr.’s remarkable comeback was driven by a heartbreaking personal tragedy. His son, Albert Hughes III, had followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the US Army. However, after returning from service, Hughes III struggled with plenty and was in recovery three times before tragically taking his own life the day before his father’s 70th birthday.
“I fell apart for four months,” Hughes Jr. told IndyStar in 2019. “I couldn’t even tie my shoes I was so grief-stricken. I couldn’t think, couldn’t train. I went to skin and bones. I almost died from grief and sorrow. And now I live every moment in grief and sorrow, and will until I die.”
Despite this devastating loss, Hughes Jr. was determined to fulfill a challenge his son had discussed with him before his passing – to become the world’s oldest officially sanctioned professional boxer. Hughes III had planned to fight on his father’s undercard for the hypothetical event, and while this did not ultimately come to fruition, Hughes Jr. was resolute in his mission to make his son proud.
“I said, ‘Son, I’m going to do this for you, because you really wanted me to. And if you were here, you would be right here doing it with me,'” Hughes Jr. recalled. “‘I said, ‘I’m going to do it.'”
And so, at the age of 70, Hughes Jr. stepped back into the ring, defying the odds and making Mike Tyson’s upcoming fight seem like a spring chicken in comparison. Tragically, Hughes Jr. did not live to see his record officially recognized, as he passed away before the necessary paperwork could be completed. But his incredible story and unwavering determination to honor his son’s memory will forever inspire those who hear it.
