How did James J Braddock hold onto the title for over 2 years without defending it?

Simple, he didn't defend it.

 

Probably got a lot of leeway for his Cinderella story and the impact it had on the public at the time.

 

Might have defended against Louis sooner if Schmeling hadn't beat Louis. American promoters didn't want to risk the title going to Europe if Schmeling got the challenge (as he ought have on sporting merits). Maybe Louis had to win a few fights to show his groove was back and take some smell off of Schmeling being passed over? Maybe, but Louis still a big star even immediately after the Schmeling loss. But it probably looked better for Louis to win a few before a title shot.

 

I don't want to be unkind to the man.

He knew tat whether his next challenger was Schmeling, Louis, or Baer, they would probably be his last.

He started to think how best to cash out, and he made the right call.

 

Back then he had to lose the Lineal Heavyweight Championship in the ring or by retiring. He did neither until meeting Joe Louis.

 

The title was governed by the National Boxing Association ( NBA ) in those days. Who knows whose pockets they were in or if politics were involved. Dempsey, Willard, and Sullivan all got away without defending for years at a time.

 

Sure seems like the governing bodies were inconsistent in applying their mandatory defense rules!

 

There were multiple attempts to crown alphabet champs during Braddocks reign.

IBU crowned Godfrey who retired then Farr and Schmeling got recognition at the end in 1937. Possible John Henry Lewis had a claim too.

 

Just like Sullivan, Corbett, Dempsey, Willard and Fury did - no worthy man to claim the crown emerged while they were inactive.

 

He used the excuse of arthritis to postpone the 1936 match with Schmeling. The NBA and the NY Commission weren't in a hurry to challenge the claim since I think neither body was in a hurry to risk losing the title to a German (which would have in all probability been the outcome), given the political climate of the era. Louis then rebounded from his loss to Schmeling with 6 or 7 straight victories, so MikeJacobs offered Braddock a deal he couldn't refuse to attempt to break the contract with Schmeling and fight Louis instead. In the meantime, the Braddock-Schmeling contract had been re-drafted a couple of times, and when Schmeling sued to enforce the fight the New York court managed to find a loophole which gave it cover to not enforce the contract. So Braddock went ahead and lost the title to Louis rather than Schmeling in 1937.