Mamby wants another world title at 60

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Saoul Mamby trains himself at John's Gym, a South Bronx oasis suspended in time -- a perfect fit for a former world champion who is fighting on at the age of 60.

It is not just to stay in shape that Mamby is skipping, working the speed bag, sparring and pounding a heavy bag hung from the rafters of the musky, converted postal station.

He wants a shot at winning another title.

"I fought the best in the world. At one time I was the best in the world," the grandfather of 11 told Reuters at the gym, where old timers visit and schoolchildren take their first steps towards learning the craft of boxing alongside professional wannabes.

"If I can reach that level again, there's no harm in trying. I don't want to sit back and be one of those shoulda, coulda, woulda people. I want to give it a shot."

Earlier this month, Mamby, who was first crowned WBC light welterweight champion 28 years ago, became what is believed to be the oldest boxer ever in a sanctioned bout when he lost a 10-round decision in the Cayman Islands.

Mamby, lean and articulate with no grey showing in his braided brown locks, said he was rusty against 32-year-old Jamaican Anthony Osbourne, whose dismal record rose to 7-25-1.

"I need fights like that to bring myself to where I was," said Mamby, whose record dropped to 45-34-6.

"I hadn't fought in eight years, fighting a fighter who has been active. I was in good shape but my tools were rusty."

ALPHABET SOUPS

The native New Yorker, a superb defensive boxer who failed to go the distance only once in his remarkable career when he was stopped at the age of 46 by American Derrell Coley, is not impressed by the current crop of fighters.

"With all the titles out there today, it's not like when I was champ before. I was WBC, Aaron Pryor was WBA," said Mamby, who made five successful defenses in two-and-a-half years as champion.

"Now they have multiple alphabet soups. So my theory is one of them belongs to me."

He said he was not worried about getting hurt. "I don't have any injuries. I don't have any damage to myself. I've never been knocked out cold."

Mamby won the World Boxing Council (WBC) light welterweight title from South Korean Kim Sang-hyun in February 1980 by stopping him in the 14th round in Seoul.