At the age of 37 years and 254 days Richard Gunn is the oldest ever winner of an Olympic boxing title. In the 1908 Olympic featherweight final, Gunn met Charley Morris of the Polytechnic BC and completely out-boxed his younger opponent in the first round for Morris to come back and take the second. The rules of the 1908 tournament for the third round to last an extra minute and many thought that the veteran Gunn would be hard pressed to survive a final round of four minutes. However, he drew on his vast experience and the ultimate verdict was never in doubt. After joining his father’s East End tailoring business, Richard Gunn took up boxing in 1893 at the Surrey Commercial Docks BC and, after winning the ABA championship in 1894, 1895 and 1896 he retired at the request of the authorities because of his “acknowledged superiority over all comers”. He then served on the ABA council until 1908 when 14 years after winning his first ABA title, he came out of retirement to win the Olympic title.
Great Britain