Scot England, boxing’s oldest professional welterweight, is reveling in his new-found fame after being knocked out in 47 seconds.
England was blasted out by little-known 1-6 opponent Jashawn Hunter, a fighter 35 years his junior. It took Hunter literally one punch to deck England.
To his credit, he got up. But the oldest swinger in town couldn’t make it to the one-minute mark. The KO went viral, and England says his Facebook page went off the chain.
Oldest welterweight enjoys fame after viral knockout
“Kind of a surreal day. In the 24 hours since I lost my only pro boxing match, I did five media interviews,” he explained. “I received almost 300 Facebook Friend Requests [most of them were real, though I only accepted a few.]
“I got over a thousand texts, FB comments, calls, and emails. There’s no way I can respond to all of them.
“I was asked to sign the famous Wall of Fame at the Elliston Soda Shop in downtown Nashville. You can now find my name right next to Wynonna and Engelbert Humperdinck!”
After his loss, England was philosophical about his experience. He did break two Guinness World Records for his trouble.
“So, you say you want to be a boxer. You might want to take a look at what a punch can do to a person’s face,” stated England.
“While I wish it had gone a little [a lot] differently, I am thankful last night’s bout was captured in these truly amazing photos [and video].
“And a TV note for Illinois friends: I did a Zoom interview today, and they will air it tonight at 10 pm. I think they wanted to assure everyone that I was still alive. [I am] Let me know how it turns out.”
Danger
Joking aside, Enlgnad put himself in real danger with his bid to make waves in the most dangerous of sports. There’s been an outcry over whose decision it was to sanction him at 58.
In a day and age when many older boxers [Razor Ruddock, 59, and James Toney, 55, just last month fought] are attempting comebacks, welterweight England should have been turned down.
Making a pro debut to break records is not in the best taste of boxing. Fans don’t want to see it, and Scot England could have been badly injured.
The whole scenario should be a wake-up call and a lesson to any sanctioning bodies giving out licenses for record attempts.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
