Have had 14 fights or less when fighting for the title. It`s ridiculous and reflects badly on Klitschko. I think David Bey who challenged Larry Holmes had a similar record if I remember correctly.
Tommy Burns v Jim O'Brian (1) Jack Johnson v Jack Murray (2) Tommy Burns v Jewey Smith (2) Tommy Burns v James Walker (5) Muhammad Ali v Leon Spinks (7) Tommy Burns v Jem Roche ( 8 ) Jim Jefferies v John Finnegan (10) Tommy Morrison v Michael Bentt (11) Jim Jefferies v Jack Munroe (13) Larry Holmes v Ossie Ocasio (13) Larry Holmes v Leon Spinks (14) Mike Tyson v Tyrell Biggs (15) Jim Jefferies v James Corbett (15) Larry Holmes v James Smith (15) Larry Holmes v Tim Witherspoon (15) eh, close enough = Muhammad Ali v Alfredo Evangelista (16) Larry Holmes v Carl Williams (16)
I have to admit I can't read Pugilist64's actual post, so I'm only reacting on BF's comment. But I guess it's about opponents without much experience fighting for the title... In that case; Morrison vs Bentt (11 fights... 10-1, 5KO's) Bentt won TKO1 And don't forget Larry Holmes! Holmes vs Witherspoon (15-0), Smith (14-1), Bey (14-0), Williams (16-0)
I see Ali vs Spinks I listed as 9 fights for Leon... It actually was 7 (and he won) and 8 in the rematch. Ali's opponent before that had only 16 bouts (14-1-1). I don't think it matters that much, if a fighter doesn't have a lot of fights. It's worse if the challenger is totally out of his league. Like Bowe vs Ferguson (19-9), Ali vs London (35-13) and Hide vs Reed (22-1).
Did some quick research off boxrec as I was pretty interested in the answers myself. I only put down the ones that were billed as a heavyweight title defense. Plenty more exhibition fights in between with guys who fought less than 14 fights, and it is possible even though they were billed as heavyweight title fights they were in actuality exhibition ones. It's hard to put the old-time fights into context as it's just a number and I don't have Bert Sugar handy to help me out. I'll also acknowledge there were no real record books back then and there were plenty of boxers who faked their records to make fights in the attempt to appear less experienced than they really were (But this still happens today and is quite prominent at the club level - especially from countries such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia etc) Just to elaborate on my thoughts on the OP: it seems a number of the title defenses are against guys with around 20-25 fights on their record so really 14 isn't that far off. It's only a number and if he and his team believe he is ready to step up then why not. Remember Jeff Fenech won a bantamweight world title after like 6 fights and Kostya Tszyu won a belt after 13 fights so it isnt as bad as it seems. Plus if you factor in most boxers fight less than they used to so it's not that far fetched to see more boxers try for belts around the 15-fight mark or step up in competition quicker. It's all about context and how well the boxer has progressed, not a number on their record. Take Povetkin for example who had like 19 fights under his belt when he was meant to fight a Klitchsko. After seven fights he was thrown in with a very good fighter in Ahunaya, then given Byrd and Chambers not too long after.
Over the 120 some years of boxing throughout the divisions, I promise there have been hundreds of such instances.
