Benn set for shock return

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British boxer Nigel Benn is set to make a shock return to the ring after being labeled “the fittest 55-year-old on planet earth.”

Benn, a former middleweight and super middleweight world champion, has not fought professionally for nearly 23 years but has called a press conference for Thursday and is expected to fight again on 23 November.

“It’s not like Nigel left the sport, hung up his gloves and never trained again. He must be the fittest 55-year-old on planet Earth,” Benn’s promoter Mark Peters told the BBC on Tuesday.

“He has still been training twice a day and he will shadow box anywhere. I wouldn’t support Nigel if I didn’t believe he was fit to box.”

“It’s his life and his prerogative to fight. From his point of view, this is closure for him.”

The British and Irish Boxing Authority will license the encounter instead of the British Boxing Board of Control.