Boiling down

The issue for me is why Selby is doing it, not that he is. When he was at Feather weight he had a belt and that made him marketable, he was probably advised to try and keep IBF as long as he could because he gave him value. He needed to move up years before and when he did it was 10 pounds and two weight classes, which shows how tough it must have been at 125. Again, this type of thing happens all over the world but it is a big issue in the UK and has led to a higher number of fighters staying at a weight class longer. The ranking/title are more sellable in UK as a Promoter will base the show around this fact. Less so in America and Hearn is starting to realise this.

 

I think the main reason he stayed at that weight for a lot longer than he should have is because the Warrington fight was what he wanted. It ended up costing him though because by then he was a wreck, two years earlier, a year earlier and he'd have schooled Warrington, it just dragged on for so long. Your bang on the money about the US, Al Haymon has paid his guys more to vacate titles in the past.