Dispite Covid 19 punching a hole through 2020 and possibly 2021. It seems that most weight divisions for at least the last 20 years fight at a maximum of 3 a year (2 If a champion) Im not talking about going back to the old days where some fought every 2 months however a bit more activity would be great. Why do you think fighters these days fight so little yearly? and what Is your Ideal amount of fights you'd like to see a year from your favorite fighter? Personally, Id like to see Dillian Whyte (Which Is mine) fight 4 times a year.
The elite fighters fight alot less these days, because when they reach the top there is a lot riding on every fight. To be at the absolute peak for a fight, most fighters would like 10-12 weeks of a training camp to prepare. That is roughly 3 months of the year gone just in preparation for one fight. So Fight 1 start camp on Jan 1st- 3 months preparation, 1 month rest Fight 2 start camp on May 1st- 3 months preparation, 2 months rest Fight 3 start camp on Oct 1st- 3 months preparation (end of year) The above totals 12 months. So in the modern era, you really cant expect an elite fighter or world champion to fight more than 3 times in a year. Unless they were to shorten their training camps, and the consensus in the sport these days is that you need 3 months to prepare for a big fight to be at your best. Does anyone think the training camps can be shortened to 8 weeks to allow champions and elite fighters to fight 4 times per year? You could easily do 8 weeks camps with 5 weeks worth of rest and fit in 4 fights per year. I suspect that such a long period of preparation is linked to the use of PEDs. It certainly is for certain fighters. But no one knows how widespread it is, I think it is more widespread at the elite world champion level than it is at the rising star or journeyman level.
Completely agree. Considering the copious amounts of money they get paid, 4 times a year should be a given to respect the fans and their consistent support. Even due hard times like now. Even 4 fights a year for Champions. It seems they reach the top and then dodge everything and live the lifestyle of a Kardashian. 12 weeks Is a long time considering the tough fighting men of the old days were performing well at less than 8 weeks notice plus some of them were already on 40+ fights. Id like to see 8 weeks camps but that will never happen. Although, If they stayed In shape all year round 8 weeks could be enough.
With the loss of crowds and the loss of TV revenue/advertising, the boxers will receive less money. The financial incentives are there now to fight more often. Even like days of old, where a champion would fight marking time fights to stay busy. So perhaps one of the silver linings of 2021 will be the champions fighting more, just purely because they will need to in order to maintain the same income as previous years? I do agree nothing stopping them from fighting every 8 weeks. Other than the financial incentives of risk and reward (now gone in the current climate), and possibly those who are using PEDs needing time away from testers to cycle off their gear.
Peds Is a massive problem. Then again, I think we all know that most If not all professional athletes In all sports are on something and the governing bodies are fully aware. Lance Armstrong and his team as a prime example of this. Sad but true.
It would be nice to see them fight more often, but I'm not holding my breath. Top fighters get paid more nowadays, and losses hurt more as well. There's little need to. I do miss watching early 90s JC Chavez and James Toney fight so often. James Toney beat Michael Nunn in one of the biggest upsets of the year. He made his first title defense about 6 weeks later, against Reggie Johnson. He made two more title defenses in the next 6 months, one of them against Mike McCallum. That's 4 title bouts from May to December. Then he fought 5 times in 92' (4 title fights), 7 times in 93' (2 title fights) and 5 times in 94' (3 title fights). JC Chavez was fighting 5-6 times per year during this period as well.