Kenny Lane tangled with Carlos Ortiz, Jose Stable, Curtis Cokes, Joe Brown, Virgil Atkins, et al. He retired in 1965, then made a "comeback" in 1982 at the age of 50. "Kenny Lane was rated as a Lightweight contender from roughly 1956, until the end of his regular career in 1965. His brother Pearce was on the USA Olympic team. In retirement, he weighed over 200lbs. At age 50, he decided to start training to lose weight. Trimmed down to his old fighting weight of 135lbs. Lane began a comeback in 1982, after passing a physical with the Michigan State Athletic Commission. He then won three fights whilst in his 50s before losing a split decision in 1985. At age 65, he hinted at yet another comeback, and even received a small write-up in the The Ring Magazine. In his retirement, Lane trained fighters in his native Muskegon, one of his recents boxers being Courtney Burton. Lane died on August 5, 2008 of a heart attack while golfing at Bent Pines Golf Club in Whitehill, Michigan."
I know the name but don’t know more about him. Kudos on getting back in shape for his comeback and being competitive ... a lot of guys do it for a big payday but I can see some merit in someone at that age (if in shape and able) fighting lower-level opponents in 4-, 6- or even 8-rounders for the love of the sport, where maybe the risks are a lot lower. Looks like he notched some good wins (Ralph Dupas, Johnny Gonsalves among them) but wasn’t quite of enough class to win a world title. Still, he seems to have traveled from coast to coast and was willing to face anyone anywhere. A credit to the sport. Glad to see his memory credited here.
I remember reading about his proposed comeback at the age of 64 in Ring magazine. From memory he was contemplating the comeback to kick the arse of a young fighter he'd once trained and who'd given him grief of some sorts. There were a spate of comebacks (probably inspired by George Foreman's triumph) around that time. Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers both made comebacks around then and Carlos Palomino returned to the ring after a nearly 20 year absence in the mid 90's as well. Palomino actually did OK winning a few fights and being competitive in defeat to the 20 years younger Wilfredo Rivera. Clearly a fighters fighting spirit never really dies.
Years ago there was a story about Lane in one of the magazines, way before his comeback. They spoke to him in a tavern and asked him if he was ever challenged once people found out he had been a fighter. He said that it hadn't happened, so the interviewer asked how would react if it did happen. Lane said he would ignore the challenge: "I'm a professional fighter. I get paid to fight." So he was then asked "what if the guy put a twenty on the bar?" Lane replied "Like I said, I'm a professional fighter."
