When Mike Tyson steps into the ring to fight Jake Paul, he will be the oldest professional boxer many fans have ever seen.
In truth however, that is not a record he can lay claim to because it instead belongs to Albert Hughes Jr, who won a fight at the age of 70.
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Hughes Jr won an officially sanctioned fight at age 70 five years agoCredit: WTHR
The news that Tyson vs Paul will take place as an officially sanctioned pro contest came as a shock to many this week and prompted the question – will the youngest heavyweight world champion in boxing history now be setting a new record?
But Tyson, who will be 58 by the time of the fight on July 20, is actually 12 years shy of the ‘World’s Oldest Boxer’ title.
In 2019, 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 took up boxing.
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Tyson is set to fight Jake Paul at age 58 on July 20Credit: Joe Scarnici/Triller
He came back to boxing for a one-off contest in 1983 before retiring from the sport at age 34 with a record of ten wins, seven losses and four draws.
Hughes Jr went on to have a family including a son, Albert Hughes III, who followed his father’s footsteps into the US Army.
However, Hughes III did not build a boxing career when he returned from service and instead struggled with drugs.
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Hughes Jr looked very different when he first boxed in his youthCredit: WTHR
After being in recovery three times, the 32-year-old tragically committed suicide the day before his father’s 70th birthday.
Hughes III was one of over 6,000 US Military veterans who take their lives by suicide each year.
His death left the family heartbroken, with Hughes Jr utterly devastated by the loss of his son.
“I fell apart for four months,” he told IndyStar in 2019, “I couldn’t even tie my shoes I was so grief-stricken.
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Hughes III committed suicide at age 32, after his time in the US ArmyCredit: WTHR
“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 awful struggle, Hughes Jr was motivated to follow through on 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. He had done so before, alongside his sister Amanda, when all three family members competed in unlicensed exhibition contests in 2006.
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In his 50s, Hughes had an unsanctioned exhibition with both his son and daughter also on the cardCredit: WTHR
And while ultimately this would not materialise again in the pro ranks, Hughes Jr was determined to make his son proud and compete regardless.
“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 for you because you wanted me to so bad. I’ll do it or I’ll die trying.'”
At 70 years and 234 days old, he remarkably received an official pro licence from the Indiana Commission and stepped into the ring on December 14, 2019.
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Hughes Jr was determined to do his son (pictured on the wall behind him) proudCredit: WTHR
Boxing promoter Frank Warren condemns Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson as an officially sanctioned professional fight and labels it as ‘ridiculous’
The fight took place at the Tyndall Armoury – the exact same venue in which Hughes Jr had won the Indiana Golden Gloves competition 45 years prior.
His lacklustre opponent Tramane Towns was an old boxer himself at age 43 and had a record of zero wins, six losses.
By the end of the night, he was 0-7.
Towns hit the deck after taking a couple of clean punches in round two, and did not make it back to his feet in time to beat the referee’s count.
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The fight itself may not have been much of a spectacle, but there was deeper meaning behind itCredit: WTHR
At age 70, wearing his son’s shorts and shoes, Hughes Jr added one final win to his boxing record with his family at ringside, including his son’s ashes.
His daughter Amanda submitted the result to Guinness World Records, though sadly he never got to see confirmation of this achievement as he died before the record was made official.
Hughes Jr’s health had deteriorated since the death of Hughes III and he’d even admitted that he ‘didn’t have much to live for’ prior to his fight.
“He grieved himself to death,” his daughter Amanda, who was with him when he passed, profoundly declared.
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Hughes Jr kept his word to his son and then passed awayCredit: WTHR
“His dying breath was that he didn’t know if he was going to get that record. He tried to hold on. He tried. But he couldn’t. He died thinking he wasn’t going to win this.”
A couple of months afterwards, Hughes Jr was indeed officially confirmed as the oldest professional boxer in history.
“It means people don’t have to give up hope,” Amanda said of her father’s record, “Dad was 70 years old, he boxed and he was scared to death but he did it anyway.
“If he can do it, anybody can. I’m proud of him, so proud of him.”
Hughes Jr has a page on the Guinness World Records website to this day and not even Mike Tyson will be able to move him from his spot.
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The record is official and will not be beaten any time soon