Oldest boxing world champions in history: Where Manny Pacquiao ranks alongside George Foreman, Bernard Hopkins

Manny Pacquiao will seek to challenge Father Time's perenially undefeated record when he steps back into the boxing ring on Saturday night.

Pacquiao, 46, ends a near four-year absence with a challenge for Marios Barrios' WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas, back at his old stomping ground of the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

As the sport's only eight-weight world champion, Pacquiao already boasts a slice of boxing history unlikely ever to be imitated.

If the Filipino icon upsets Barrios this weekend, where would he rank among the oldest world champions of all time?

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Who is the oldest boxing world champion in history?

Bernard Hopkins remains the oldest world champion in the history of boxing, a little ahead of the late, great George Foreman.

Indeed, the story that has been most frequently linked to Pacquiao's return is Foreman's incredible comeback to reach the summit of the heavyweight division.

Two decades on from his defeat to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle, Foreman knocked out IBF champion Moorer in round 10 at the same MGM Grand arena where Barrios and Pacquiao will face off.

However, it should be noted that Foreman had been boxing solidly for seven and a half years since his 1987 comeback. Pacquiao has not punched for pay since losing to Yordenis Ugas in August 2021.

Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history, aged 45 years and 300 days, when he defeated Moorer. After a controversial majority-decision win over Axel Schulz in his first defence in April 1995, the American was stripped of his belt by the IBF for failing to agree to rematch. He was 46 years and 169 days old when he ceded the title on June 29, 1995.

These exploits made Foreman boxing's oldest champion and his record, purely in terms of the heavyweight division, still stands. However, the great Hopkins became the oldest man to win a world title after he fought to a rematch win over Jean Pascal to claim the WBC light heavyweight title via unanimous decision.

Hopkins was 46 years and 126 days old at his moment of triumph in Quebec, older than Foreman was when he fought Moorer, and he ticked past Big George's mark as the oldest reigning champion shortly afterwards. 

'The Executioner' lost his title over a two-fight series with Chad Dawson, only to set a new record when he defeated Tavoris on March 9, 2013, aged 48 years and 53 days. He defended the title against Karo Murat and even added Beibut Shumenov's WBA belt to his haul before losing to the formidable Sergey Kovalev on November 8, meaning his reign ended aged 49 years and 297 days.

Pacquiao will be 46 years and 215 days old when he steps into the ring against Barrios, so would replace Foreman in second on the all-time list with a win. Even if Manny pulls off the upset, it feels like Hopkins' place at the top of the tree is safe for some time.

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Oldest boxing champions in each division

The list below was collated by boxing historian @Asurwrath on Twitter in June 2021.

Since then, current WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara has become the oldest 160-pound ruler in history.

The ages relate to the final successful world title fight fought by each champion, which accounts for the discrepancies in relation to the Foreman and Hopkins numbers above. 

Pacquiao's July 2019 victory over Keith Thurman means he is already the oldest boxer ever to win a welterweight world title.