On March 9, 2013, Bernard Hopkins (54-6-2 with 32 KOs), then 48 years old, broke the world record for the oldest boxer to win a world title. Whose record did he break? His own.
On April 19, 2014, the self-proclaimed Alien will step into the ring to set yet another world record. Bernard Hopkins will fight to become the oldest boxer in history to unify two major world titles. His opponent is Kazakh lawyer-turned-pugilist Beibut Shumenov. In a sport filled with unique and inspiring backstories, Shumenov’s stands head and shoulders above the rest.
ABOUT THE FIGHTERS
As a child, Shumenov was inadvertently poisoned by his aunt. As his parents took their blue, shriveling child to the hospital, they were informed that their boy would not survive. Doctors managed to save the boy after running an IV through his skull. Subsequent to these life-saving measures, doctors told Shumenov’s parents that he would always be small and that he should avoid physically taxing activities. The 6’2” WBA Light Heavyweight Champion has spent a lifetime proving that those doctors were dead wrong. In his 30 years on this planet, Shumenov has gone from begging relatives for food to becoming a millionaire attorney and a champion fighter.
continue
