How many forty five year old boxers could have knocked out Michael Moorer?

I never said it was the only one.

 

Golfers often pull it off. Swinging a driver at a golf ball is kind of like punching a lethargic Michael Moorer who is standing directly in front of you, doing nothing.

 

Here's a list of high-level athletes who were (or are) active in their mid-40s, across different sports. These athletes either competed at an elite level or maintained remarkable physical performance past the typical retirement age.

⚽ Soccer (Football)

• Kazuyoshi Miura – Played professionally into his 50s (Japan).
  
  
• Gianluigi Buffon – Still elite in his 40s; retired at 45 (goalkeeper).
  
  
• Zlatan Ibrahimović – Retired at 41; still scored goals in top leagues.
  

Basketball

• LeBron James – Still active (age 40 in 2024), playing at elite level.
  
  
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Retired at 42, still contributing at the time.
  
  
• Vince Carter – Retired at 43 after a 22-year NBA career.
  

American Football

• Tom Brady – Played at MVP level at age 44; won Super Bowl at 43.
  
  
• George Blanda – Played until 48; QB and kicker.
  

Tennis

• Martina Navratilova – Competed in doubles into her mid-40s.
  
  
• Kimiko Date – Came out of retirement and played WTA matches in her 40s.
  
  
• Roger Federer – Retired at 41, remained competitive into his 40s.
  

Boxing / Combat Sports

• Bernard Hopkins – World champion at age 49.
  
  
• Randy Couture – UFC champion at 45.
  
  
• Anderson Silva – Fought professionally in MMA and boxing in his 40s.
  
  
• Manny Pacquiao – Fought at world level at age 42.
  

⚾ Baseball

• Nolan Ryan – Dominant pitcher into his mid-40s.
  
  
• Julio Franco – Played MLB until 48.
  
  
• Bartolo Colón – Pitched in MLB at age 45.
  

Hockey

• Jaromír Jágr – Played in NHL until 45; still plays in Czech pro league in his 50s.
  
  
• Chris Chelios – NHL defenseman into his mid-40s.
  

‍♂️ Track & Field / Endurance Sports

• Joan Benoit Samuelson – Ran Boston Marathon sub-3:00 at 61.
  
  
• Haile Gebrselassie – Competed at high level into his 40s in masters races.
  
  
• Meb Keflezighi – Ran competitively into his mid-40s.
  

Motorsports

• Valentino Rossi – Competed in MotoGP until age 42.
  
  
• Fernando Alonso – Still competing in Formula 1 in his 40s (as of 2025).
  
  
• Michael Schumacher – Returned to F1 at 41 and raced until 43.
  

⛳ Golf

• Phil Mickelson – Won PGA Championship at 50.
  
  
• Tiger Woods – Still active in his late 40s despite injuries.
  

️‍♂️ Other / Multi-sport

• Dara Torres – Olympic swimmer at age 41 (Beijing 2008).
  
  
• Kelly Slater – Still competing on the pro surfing tour in his 50s.
  
  
• Chris Horner – Won Vuelta a España at 41 (oldest Grand Tour winner).
  
  
• Tia-Clair Toomey (projected) – While still in her 30s, many CrossFit athletes like Sam Briggs and Annie Thorisdottir remained elite into their 40s.
  

https://chatgpt.com/s/t_687296b4e73881918ad075faeabfe5a4

 

What about mid 70s?

 

Probably very few given that there were only a handful of them still fighting at that age, and of the few that were most had almost zero ability left. And even George Foreman was losing to Moorer by a pretty good margin before the stars aligned for him to land that 1-2 combo on the chin

 

Could go the Larry Holmes route instead. Take a couple years off here and there, don't do a full ten year stop, then get active and fight 3-4 cans in a row in short order to get ready for a real fight.

 

Absolutely—here’s another 35 elite athletes (past and present) who competed or stayed highly active in their mid-40s or beyond, across a variety of sports and regions.

⚽ Soccer / Football

1. Dani Alves – Played for Brazil and club football into his 40s.
   
   
2. Joaquín Sánchez – Retired at 41 after playing in La Liga.
   
   
3. Shunsuke Nakamura – Played into his mid-40s in Japan.
   
   
4. Roger Milla – Scored in World Cup at age 42.
   
   
5. Pepe Reina – Still active as goalkeeper in his 40s (as of 2024).
   

Basketball

1. Udonis Haslem – Played until 43 with the Miami Heat.
   
   
2. Robert Parish – Played until 43 in the NBA.
   
   
3. Dikembe Mutombo – Played until 42.
   
   
4. Nat Hickey – Oldest NBA player ever (47), albeit briefly.
   
   
5. Sue Bird – Played in the WNBA until age 41.
   

American Football

1. Adam Vinatieri – Kicked until age 47.
   
   
2. Drew Brees – Retired at 42 but still highly productive late in career.
   
   
3. Jerry Rice – Played until age 42; still productive in early 40s.
   
   
4. Ben Agajanian – Kicker who played until age 45.
   
   
5. Morten Andersen – Retired at 47, one of NFL’s all-time scorers.
   

Combat Sports / MMA

1. Yoel Romero – Still competing at a high level into his late 40s.
   
   
2. Fedor Emelianenko – Fought in major MMA promotions into his mid-40s.
   
   
3. Dan Henderson – Fought in UFC at 46.
   
   
4. Oscar De La Hoya – Attempted comebacks into his late 40s.
   
   
5. Antonio Tarver – Boxed into his 40s, also commentated.
   

⚾ Baseball

1. Roger Clemens – Still effective into his mid-40s.
   
   
2. Ichiro Suzuki – Played until 45.
   
   
3. Jamie Moyer – Pitched in MLB until age 49.
   
   
4. Fernando Rodney – Relief pitcher in MLB into his 40s.
   
   
5. Rich Hill – Still pitching in MLB in his 40s (as of 2024).
   

Hockey

1. Dominik Hašek – Played until 43; tried comeback at 46.
   
   
2. Mark Recchi – Played until 43, won a Stanley Cup at that age.
   
   
3. Zdeno Chára – Retired at 45, team captain until late career.
   
   
4. Teemu Selänne – Played until age 43, still productive.
   

Endurance & Other Sports

1. Jeannie Longo – Elite cyclist competing into her late 40s.
   
   
2. Kristin Armstrong – Olympic gold medalist in cycling at age 43.
   
   
3. Constantina Diță – Won Olympic marathon at 38, raced competitively into her 40s.
   
   
4. Hiroaki Sato – World-class ultramarathoner in his 40s.
   
   
5. Ed Whitlock – Ran sub-3:00 marathon at age 70+; elite at every age.
   

‍♂️ / ️ / / Others

1. Bode Miller – Ski racing elite into late 30s; trained competitively into 40s.
   

 

With fair judging, he'd have won the IBO belt (for whatever that's worth) at 48.

 

That isn’t how AI works. It cuts the list off at 35 due some inner workings which we aren’t privileged enough to see. I can ask for another 200 and it’ll *gasp* give me another 200. I already posted an additional 35 but that post seems to have flown right over your head.

 

Yeah, Larry scored at least one really vicious knockout in his forties too. He’d be more live than McCall.

 

I’m not going to ask ChatGPT for any more. This is a tech literacy issue at this point, not a boxing debate.