Life itself is full of comebacks. It is true. The diversity and severness of comebacks may vary, but everybody must in some way shape or from come back from adversity. Some of them are Physical. Some of them are Mental. Still others are Spiritual / Psychological. Examples of comebacks in life are numerous. The man who came back from being laid off or fired at work. The teenager who came back from a bad auto accident. The woman who came back from an abusive relationship than ended in divorce. The child who came back from the loss of a dear relative. The student who came back from a tough test score. The old person who came back from illness. Sometimes people can come back. Other times they can’t. One thing is for sure. It takes some courage to try. Sports fans love their comebacks, as they are rare. The events are vividly remembered years later. Yet there is no sport that defines a comeback better than boxing. In the ring, a man is on his own. He must overcome obstacles. Obstacles for the man on the come back trail can be as difficult to over come as the opponent. Enter Vitlai Klitschko. AGE In a sport, that fancies itself as survival of the fittest seldom does older fighter in his late 30’s defeat a much younger / highly ranked fighter. While it happens from time to time, it is rare on the championship level. In the annuals of boxing, seldom does a man 9 years older on the come, back trail beat a 28-year-old champion ranked #2 in the world. So clearly, age matters. Vitlai Klitschko is 37. Sam Peter is 28 IN-ACTIVITY In a sport where timing, and reflexes matter, in-activity is another obstacle. The long a fighter remains in active. The more ring rust he shall have. The ring rust sometimes never goes away, not even with many warm up fights vs lesser foes. Vitlai has not fought in nearly 4 years , or if you prefer has not fought in 45 months. Very few men have come back from such a long lay off, and regained their title. So clearly being an active fighter in boxing matters. Vitlai Kltischko has not fought since December 2004 INJURIES Boxing one of the most physically demanding sports ever invented. It demands flexibility. It demands strength. It demands stamina. The more injures a fighter has, the more it perfects his performance. There is no such thing as an athlete coming back better from a shoulder surgery, a back surgery, or a knee surgery. In truth, injures take a while to over come, both physical and mentally. There is no guarantee the athlete will ever bee the same. The older the alterable is, the harder it is to recover. Vitlai has major injures to critical moving parts in boxing. His back, his shoulder and his knee. Simply going through a training camp has been hard for Vitlai. One can only ponder what Vitlai must have been thinking during camp. Should he press hard to get in shape, risking an old injury acting up? Will he be confident enough in his body to perform at the level he is used to? to press it in the ring? Can he get into shape without being injured. HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE Never in the history of boxing has a man who has been out of the ring for nearly 4 year, at age 37+, with past and recent injuries come back to win a title belt without warm up fights. Not once. Vitlai Kiltschko just made history. He has defeated Sam Peter. How the history will be interpreted depend on one own mind’s eye, yet regardless of how you interpret it, the sport of boxing gave us one tonight.