Becoming a unified champion is one of the hardest feats in all of boxing.
Throughout history, many of boxing’s greatest-ever athletes have aimed to unify their division and have failed. Even for more simple reasons such as scheduling conflicts, some fighters do not get the chance to be the unified champion.
This was the case for one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, Tyson Fury, as well as plenty of other great fights.
Modern-day unified champions include the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Artur Betervbiev, as well as Dmitry Bivol, who recently joined the list of undisputed champions.
However, before the modern greats, there was one champion who made history at 49 years old.
49-year-old champion unified his division in 2014
In April of 2014, Bernard Hopkins would step into the ring at 49 years old to take on Beibut Shumenov at the D.C. Armoury in Washington.
Going into the bout, Hopkins held the IBF World Light Heavyweight title, while Shumenov was the WBA champion of the division.
Despite the bout being officially scored as a split decision, Hopkins was clearly the stronger fighter in the bout.
Hopkins’ win over the 14-1 Shumenov would make him a unified champion of the light heavyweight division. As a 49-year-old fighter, Hopkins was the oldest athlete in boxing history to unify a division with two major world titles.
Another notable unification was when George Foreman made history at 45 years old when he became the IBF and World Heavyweight champion in 1994. However, being four years his senior, Hopkins is now the holder of the record.
Bernard Hopkins has wins over some of the greatest fighters of all time
Not only is Hopkins known for making history in the twilight of his career, but he was also able to get the better of some of the very best in the game.
Among his most notable wins include Oscar De La Hoya in a middleweight world title fight, another division in which Hopkins was a unified champion.
Other elite names on his resume include Roy Jones Jr and Kelly Pavlik, as well as a split decision loss to Joe Calzaghe.
Hopkins retired in December 2016, just one month before his 52nd birthday. His final bout would see him take on Joe Smith Jr., and lose via stoppage.