Reflections: Chisora and Kessler returning to the ring is a worry

Reflections: Addictive personalities Chisora and Kessler are both coming out of retirement

GBN's regular columnist, Donald C Stewart, shares his concerns for ageing boxers who just can't walk away from the dangerous sport

45 years and 299 days. 1994. Michael Moore.

Personally, I blame George Foreman. 1994 was the year and that was his age when he came back and won a heavyweight world title against that Moorer fellow…

His comeback, having retired many years beforehand, was lauded as one of the greatest comebacks ever. To be fair to him, it was.

But it has defined a legacy for many as to the golden goose that you gave up when you retired from boxing might still be available if you returned to it.

And so, in the month in which Mikkel Kessler has announced he is returning and Derek Chisora has found a fight with the British Boxing Board of Control to continue – who knew that Chisora would fight against officialdom, when there seemed to be no empty room in which to hold him – as both are seeking to return to the ring. At an age where they should be putting their feet up, they are planning to be back.

But some fighters cannot replicate the big nights, the lights, the attention and like a drug, they chase it to be back in their own limelight.

Carl Froch's view on Kessler was interesting when he took to his channel to wish him all the best. He doesn't believe that, at 47, Kessler should be anywhere wear a competitive ring, however.

Add to that the plethora of people who have come out and said that Chisora shouldn't be anywhere near a ring either and he should do as he said he would and just retire.

Commentators and pundits within British boxing and worldwide boxing don’t believe an older man should be entering the ring to fight.

Mind you, a couple of late thirties fighters, all agreed as past their prime, have seen tickets for their show fly off the shelf in one hour. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury selling out their mega bucks tickets for their showdown on the 11th of December at the Principality Stadium means that they have at least one more huge payday to come.

It was interesting who might be on the undercard.

First name that was mentioned was Manny Pacquiao. There's another fighter who has come back after dabbling in politics and he has now returned to what he knows best: pugilism.

When it was decided he probably was not going to be on the undercard, the latest named was Deontay Wilder. When AJ and Fury were in their prime, Wilder was the third wheel. In their prime, they didn't all quite manage to fight each other, though Fury and Wilder gave us a trilogy for the ages.

Perhaps people will look back at Fury’s five retirements differently? What about Roy Jones Jr? It could also be argued that Danny Williams could not see the finish line though he doesn't seem to have entered a ring for some years now, has he?

But as Kessler and Chisora, particularly Chisora, have announced that they are going to be back in a ring competitively, it is worthwhile recognizing that those fighters who don't retire gracefully need something to occupy them.

We should learn the lessons of Ricky Hatton. Hatton tried to come back, and it was an adulterated failure. The vision of him lying on a canvas having been battered in his comeback fight didn't taint his legacy but perhaps provided us with the signs that the future were not going to be that bright for him. His exhibition fight against Marco Antonio Barrera, I loved and enjoyed, though I'm not a big one for exhibitions that was a fitting way for me to see a great like Hatton retire.

In Scotland we had the very last fight between Willie Limond and Ricky Burns. Burns retired straight afterwards, Limond indicated he would too.  Limond then was in preparation for a comeback fight when we lost him.  Whilst the sons continue the legacy they, like Campbell Hatton, may never reach the heights of their fathers. Chasing glory beyond the end of a career should always be a warning sign.

And so, what's going to happen to Chisora and Kessler? No doubt they will get some kind of licence. They will go off and they will fight. Chisora has a fight with the British Boxing Board of Control to contend with, so it might be that the likes of BIBA boxing come in and give him what he's looking for, a license to continue his career.

Wanting one last hurrah, whilst addicted to the adrenalin of the sport, it is not a forgiving mistress and could cause some serious damage to each fighter and that is what worries more than me.