Something that always bothered me about the earlier era of boxing...

[warp1432]

Question here again because I really don't know and it irks me.

Why did fighters defend their titles ony like twice per year when they fought like 14 times per year? Is it because they had to pay sanctioning fees and didn't want to? Even then they could have still defended the title like 6 times. I mean Robinson had like 5 title defenses at Welterweight, but he racked up like 30 wins while he was champion.

Maybe it's best they didn't defend their title on a weekly basis, but why not defend it a little more.

[LondonRingRules]

Why did fighters defend their titles ony like twice per year when they fought like 14 times per year? Is it because they had to pay sanctioning fees and didn't want to? Even then they could have still defended the title like 6 times. I mean Robinson had like 5 title defenses at Welterweight, but he racked up like 30 wins while he was champion.

Maybe it's best they didn't defend their title on a weekly basis, but why not defend it a little more.

** Armstrong did defend it on a weekly basis for one month.

Takes a promoter to find the fighters to accept an offer to make a fight. Fighters earlier could go on tour in exhibition bouts and make more than a single title defense would bring, so why risk the title?

Robinson and others just building on the above, being the big draw.

Maybe you ought to ask why Ali fought only 61 fights if he was the greatest? Sure, he lost 3 yrs, but so did Louis. Langford had notched over 60 fights by the time he was 25!

[warp1432]

Hmm makes sense I guess. Still bugs me he defended his title only like 5 times, still the greatest of all time no doubt though.

[Terry A]

The champs wanted to stay active to stay sharp and for the extra paychecks, and they also wanted to fight often so the paying public would be very familiar with them. Then, when they did defend their title, there was even more excitement, because most people knew that for the most part, very few of the guys the champs fought in non title bouts were worthy of fighting for the championship of the world. So when the champs DID defend, it usually meant they were fighting somebody with a realistic chance of at least looking good in the ring, if not outright winning.