No one enjoys getting old, but in boxing, there's a way to do it gracefully.

Anthony Dirrell is one of the few who mastered it. As a middle-aged 30-year-old, Dirrell held the WBC super middleweight world title. Once he got to his late 30s and no longer championship material, he nonetheless remained a viable contender.

After getting brutally knocked out by Caleb Plant in October 2022, Dirrell (34-3-2, 25 KOs) went ghost. No-one saw or heard from him for a long while.

Retirement seemed plausible, despite not fully committing to it. Yet after taking some time to recharge, he realized walking off into the sunset wasn't something he wanted just yet.

"I think I'm ready to come back," Dirrell told reporter Sean Zittel. "I think I been doing this for so long that I needed a break. I took my break and I'm ready to come back."

Dirrell will turn 41 in October. Additionally, the super middleweight division has the sort of blood-thirsty sharks that you don't want to fool around with.

In terms of big names, 168 has a ton of them. Jermall Charlo recently showed that he has a lot left in the tank, Diego Pacheco is a young hungry lion, Christian Mbilli has something to prove, Jose Armando Resendiz just came on the scene, and of course, Canelo Alvarez is still sitting on the throne as the division's undisputed champion.

Being around the game for two decades means two things. One, Dirrell is an old dog. Second, he's experienced. Throughout his career, the 40-year-old has won titles, knocked opponents out, and boxed circles around some of the best.

He's also come up short a few times. During those times when things didn’t go his way, he didn't allow despondency to creep into his system. Instead, he used it to his advantage.

"If you lose, you lose," Dirrell continued. "It's a winner and loser in everything. If you lose, come back stronger and get the win next time."