Nigel Benn reveals he’s been training five years for his return

It can be a little difficult to wrap your mind around a 55-year-old former fighter ending a 20+ year retirement in order to give this dangerous sport one more go, but Nigel Benn will do exactly that when he takes on former titleholder Saiko Bika on November 23rd.

Benn says that he has a lot of respect for Bika and wasn’t interested in taking a soft touch for his return, fully expecting a war on fight night. And to that end Benn says he’s as physically prepared for that kind of fight as he’s ever been.

“I feel fitter, stronger and more focused than at any time in my career. Age is nothing but a number, I still have good movement, quick hands and a good whack.

“I have been training for five years ahead of this event, the last two years intensively and as an elite athlete ahead of the fight.

“It is eight weeks until I return to the ring, and I am only a couple of Kilograms off weight. I feel strong and looking forward to stepping in the ring for the last time in November.”

Benn continues by lamenting his personal struggles which he believes hamstrung his fighting career in the past — death, drugs, and depression — but says his entire life changed in 2008 based on an ‘encounter with Jesus.’

Hopefully Jesus will be looking over Benn once the bell rings because Bika is a handful for just about anybody, never mind a man who hasn’t fought since the 90s.