Older Athletes Punching Above Their Age
“John Branigan, a Philadelphia lawyer, is similarly young-looking. A catcher in over-40 baseball leagues — “not softball, mind you,” he said — he will be 63 next season.
To his friends, the baseball seems less incongruous than his boxing, which stuns them. Mostly his boxing takes place in classes, but he fights in matches, with mouthpiece and headgear, several times a year.
“Boxers are the best-conditioned athletes in the world,” said Mr. Branigan, who says learning how to take a punch and how to throw one properly is difficult and exhausting. “I fought a kid who was 30 last year and by the third round, he had nothing left — and he was in shape.” […]
