After Evander Holyfield's latest farce against Sherman Williams and news of Francois Botha lumbering over to Britain to take on Tyson Fury, the last thing boxing needed this week was news of more ageing stars lacing back on the gloves.
But Robin Reid's decision to end a retirement of more than three years and climb back in the ring for the Prizefighter super-middleweight tournament in March is an eminently more worthy prospect than either of the above.
Reid last fought in December 2007 when he made an ambitious bid to take the British super-middleweight title from global-bound Carl Froch. Reid was defeated in five one-sided rounds, and it was obvious his time was up.
Reid had enjoyed a stellar top-level career since his stunning seventh round knockout of Vincenzo Nardiello in Italy in 1996 which earned him the WBC 12-stone crown and turned him into an overnight star.
Reid's good looks and exciting style made him one of the most recognisable fighters in the business and led to a series of second chances, with three more cracks at major world titles once his first reign met a disappointing end.
The Prizefighter tournament, in which the winning fighter will fight three bouts of up to three rounds on the same night, is a gruelling experience but hardly up there with being struck by Froch-like bombs the whole night through.
Reid, who turns 40 next month, will find himself thrown in with the usual mixture of up-and-comers and coming-downers in a format which has been seized on as a popular and successful way of promoting boxing in the new millennium.
Unlike Holyfield, who is surely at risk of doing himself harm, or Botha, whose heavyweight time has long gone, Reid has the strength and fitness to pose serious problems at a level in which he will not be found wanting.
Reid admitted the prospect of a comeback was a long way from his mind before, ironically, reports surfaced that incorrectly stated he was being lined up for a place in the recent light-heavyweight tournament.
"I've kept myself in good shape," said Reid. "Even when I retired I stayed in the gym and I'm in this to win it. I know if I catch somebody they are going to go and from what I've seen, the quicker you get them out of there the better.
"The way I look at it is that I've got bags of experience and I'm used to doing 12 rounds but I'll be fit enough to do three-threes."
Reid ought to enjoy it while it lasts, win or lose. The danger is the excitement and adrenaline of being involved in a top-level televised tournament will tempt him to do more of the same in a bid to reclaim former glories.
The domestic super-middleweight division is full of talent at the moment and it is already evident that the chance call Reid took about an appearance in Prizefighter has already turned his head towards a more long-term prospect.
"In boxing at the minute there's just Amir Khan and David Haye, but apart from that there's no big stars out there," said Reid, perhaps temporarily forgetting the man who brought what seemed to be a permanent close to his career.
"I'm not saying I'm a massive star but I'm a three-time [WBF] world champion. James Degale is out there of course and that could be a great fight for me somewhere down the line."
Comebacks are a risky business in boxing, and for a man who freely admits he is financially secure and achieved all he could in the sport before retiring with his health intact, the stakes are even higher.
Perhaps Reid's stellar career did not deserve to end in a painful beating by Froch in Nottingham that night. Winning Prizefighter would be a wonderful way for Reid to march back into a more permanent retirement.