Comebacks seem to be all the rage these days, from the ill-advised to the remarkably feasible to the “we swear to God this is just an exhibition please don’t think these guys are actually going to smash each other.” K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler thinks former heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko should get in on the trend.
Via The Ring:
“Wladimir stays in tremendous condition for not being an active professional athlete. He’s always training, he’s always working on his cardio, and his body shape almost looks identical to when he was defending his titles. ... If there’s anyone who can do it and still compete at the world championship level, it would be Wladimir. I would love to see him come back, but ultimately that’s a decision that he will have to make.”
Klitschko (64-5, 53 KO), who turned 44 earlier this year, ended his phenomenal career in 2017 after falling to Anthony Joshua. He put forth an incredible effort against the younger man that night and appears to have left the ring without regrets.
Not that he couldn’t get a win or two if he followed Loeffler’s plan; Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin remain top heavyweights years after getting mauled by “Dr. Steelhammer” and there’s no shortage of notable-but-unspectacular guys like Tom Schwarz and Charles Martin that I’d favor even an aged Klitschko against. Still, Klitschko got out with his health intact and seems to be living his best life, so let’s hope he resists the siren call of “one last fight.”