BoxRec

Surprised to hear Justin Whitehead is resuming at 44 and after 5 years out of it.

Whitehead (5-0) is scheduled to fight American born Clarence Tillman (11-22-2) in Melbourne, on August 21st.

Justin Whitehead was a decorated amateur - he won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth games and was 3 times Australian champion - who turned pro at the advanced age of 37 with the aim of winning an Australia professional title. That done at age 39 he promptly retired straight after winning the belt.

A year later, 2011, and Whitehead was back in training at Les Fear's gym near Ballarat. Mick Kirby and Ben Edwards had recently contested the Australian title that Whitehead had vacated, and as their fight ended in a draw, the title was still vacant. Whitehead had ideas of winning the title back, but for whatever reason his comeback didn't eventuate.

Not sure it's a great idea Whitehead is pulling the gloves back on at 44. But good luck to him.

Whitehead took Tillman out 2 minutes into the 3rd round - taking him to 6-0 - and he has another fight teed up for November.

Whitehead lost his zero to recent Lucas Browne victim Julius Long.

A rare win for Long.

Redback Rasta wrote:Whitehead lost his zero to recent Lucas Browne victim Julius Long.

A rare win for Long.

Long has obviously been training a bit more lately. Had he have had more than a weeks notice for the Browne fight, he would've knocked Browne out.

Lairdy wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:Whitehead lost his zero to recent Lucas Browne victim Julius Long.

A rare win for Long.

Long has obviously been training a bit more lately. Had he have had more than a weeks notice for the Browne fight, he would've knocked Browne out.

He failed to knock Whitehead out. In fact, looking at Long's record, he has only succeeded in knocking out 2 opponents in the past 10 years

Redback Rasta wrote:

Lairdy wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:Whitehead lost his zero to recent Lucas Browne victim Julius Long.

A rare win for Long.

Long has obviously been training a bit more lately. Had he have had more than a weeks notice for the Browne fight, he would've knocked Browne out.

He failed to knock Whitehead out. In fact, looking at Long's record, he has only succeeded in knocking out 2 opponents in the past 10 years

What's that got to do with him almost knocking Brown out?... I'm pretty much just saying he's an underrated fighter, that with 1 week preparation, was regularly having Browne in trouble.

Lairdy wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:

Lairdy wrote:
Long has obviously been training a bit more lately. Had he have had more than a weeks notice for the Browne fight, he would've knocked Browne out.

He failed to knock Whitehead out. In fact, looking at Long's record, he has only succeeded in knocking out 2 opponents in the past 10 years

What's that got to do with him almost knocking Brown out?... I'm pretty much just saying he's an underrated fighter, that with 1 week preparation, was regularly having Browne in trouble.

Browne broke his right thumb the first time he hit Long, losing his most potent weapon in the process and at the same time the possibility of taking Long out early. But what's that got to do with it?

All i'm hearing is excuses... He looked awful against Long. If my memory serves me corrctly, it was a right hand that he stopped Long with... Browne is a good boxer at Australian level, cetainly not world class.

Lairdy wrote:All i'm hearing is excuses... He looked awful against Long. If my memory serves me corrctly, it was a right hand that he stopped Long with... Browne is a good boxer at Australian level, cetainly not world class.

Browne was awful against Long. Anyone who saw the fight would agree on that. But he was never in danger of being knocked out like you claim

Ever tried to box with a broken thumb? It is almost impossible to play any sport with a broken thumb. Let alone try and knock someone out with one.

Redback Rasta wrote:

Lairdy wrote:All i'm hearing is excuses... He looked awful against Long. If my memory serves me corrctly, it was a right hand that he stopped Long with... Browne is a good boxer at Australian level, cetainly not world class.

Browne was awful against Long. Anyone who saw the fight would agree on that. But he was never in danger of being knocked out like you claim

Ever tried to box with a broken thumb? It is almost impossible to play any sport with a broken thumb. Let alone try and knock someone out with one.

I know very well what broken thumbs are like when it comes to boxing. They're almost impossible to fight with. I actually didn't realize he had broken his thumb. They didn't say anything on the night, I just looked it up. That would almost certainly be the reason he was very tentative then.

Lairdy wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:

Lairdy wrote:All i'm hearing is excuses... He looked awful against Long. If my memory serves me corrctly, it was a right hand that he stopped Long with... Browne is a good boxer at Australian level, cetainly not world class.

Browne was awful against Long. Anyone who saw the fight would agree on that. But he was never in danger of being knocked out like you claim

Ever tried to box with a broken thumb? It is almost impossible to play any sport with a broken thumb. Let alone try and knock someone out with one.

I know very well what broken thumbs are like when it comes to boxing. They're almost impossible to fight with. I actually didn't realize he had broken his thumb. They didn't say anything on the night, I just looked it up. That would almost certainly be the reason he was very tentative then.