Now that Tyson Fury did that ten rounds bout... It seems as if the era of world champions in non title bouts is over.... The last hurrah for that was about 1983-84 when Wilfredo Gomez, Alexis Arguello, Jeff Chandler, (nominally, because everyone except the WBC considered his fight with Marvis Frazier a world title fight) Larry Holmes, Thomas Hearns, Juan Laporte and Eusebio Pedroza were all involved in non title bouts while still champions. (another parenthesis here, Arguello and Gomez days before they announced they were leaving their titles vacant) i should also add, Laporte and Pedroza faced the same guy, an up until then 19 losses Gerald Hayes who beat Laporte and proceeded to drop Pedroza before being stopped in the last round by the Panamanian. Floyd Mayweather I think had a few non title bouts back in the day, i think one was against Henry Bruseles...while a Junior Lightweight champ. My question is, with Fury's fight done, can the era of the ten-rounds non-title affairs by current world champions return? If the PPV money for that is good......What do you all think?
I don't think it would do well. The money wouldn't be that good, due to most non title bout opponents just not being all that great or well known, they rarely were historically, they were just there to keep the champ busy. The only reason youtubers and MMA fighters make big money is due to their already pre established fame and crossover appeal, nobody's gonna care about a guy ranked 30th fighting in a non title bout. Just look at the hate Canelo got for fighting Yildirim in a title match. Most modern title holders also just hate being active and fighting more than 3 times per year, so they wouldn't even bother with a keep busy fight, especially if it's potentially dangerous.
It’s an interesting topic, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Fury. The true world heavyweight champion is defending his title any time he steps into the ring in a sanctioned boxing match (as opposed to an exhibition). Now the sanctioning bodies that recognize him as champ (the alphabets — WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and, unfortunately, may more) may not sanction that fight as in they will not recognize the winner as champion even if the defending titlist loses it, but there’s no ‘law’ that says championship fights have to be so many rounds (history has had its share of 10s, 12s, 15s and 20s … not to mention the fight-to-the-finish of the pre-Queensbury days) nor, in the case of heavyweights, any weight limit (it’s unlimited — see Billy Conn challenging Joe Louis at 174 pounds … which is below light heavyweight). A middleweight or light heavy or cruiser wouldn’t have to climb in weight to challenge, at least in theory, although they’d obviously be at a disadvantage. The other weight divisions have limits — one cannot step onto the scales for the weigh-in for a lightweight bout at 137 and be able to defend it … both champion and challenger have to be 135 or below. Otherwise, they’re not lightweights thus ineligible to fight for that title. It would be a fun exercise if one had the time to compose a list of all non-title bouts undertaken by champions in history — as @AntonioMartin1 noted it used to be somewhat common. Roberto Duran often had over-135 non-title bouts when he was lightweight champ all the time., or instance. I know Kevin Kelly fought junior lightweight non-title fights in between title fights when he was WBC featherweight champion in the mid-1990s. I’d be interested to know what the most recent case of this is. It does seem more rare now, but there are so many belts that anyone stepping up may as well fight one of the (many) champions instead of a contender to get the better payday and maybe another belt.
Aaron Davis, after winning a belt against Mark Breland, had a couple of non-title bouts before losing to Meldrick Taylor. One of those fights was against the big-punching Jorge Maysonet, who knocked Davis down and nearly pulled the upset. I believe James Toney had a few non-title fights during his reign...one against Ricky Thomas IIRC...but I can't think of too many examples after that...
Of course it could work and it Should return, provided it is True Champions fighting True Contenders, though we don't know who a Contender is anymore, because every Chump is called a Chumpion - the holder of a Micky Mouse title... the Truth is Boxing NEEDS to Change and proper Elimination fights MUST be Made & Forced by the Boards in order to have these kind of showdowns, culminating in accepted true champs. it is no longer frustrating, it is out & out Sickening and has KILLED Boxing!
Roberto Duran springs most to mind for me, he kept very busy between title fights....obviously the De Jesus one stands out due to the fact he lost.
Back in the day, fighters fought often to stay sharp. Thus, a non-title kept them fit while giving them a payday. Fighters like Joe Brown, Sandy Saddler, Bob Foster and Victor Galindez took advantage of the non-titles. There were countless more from the earlier days who were not putting their title on the line, yet keeping fit for their next big one. Fighters today fight twice a year. More stress is placed on gym work than actual fighting, so I'm sure the days of the non-title have left the building. That twice a year schedule is another thing that's killed boxing. They can stretch out their careers longer, which is why you see fighters still duking it out at 38 and such. But what kind of fighters are they. How many people on the street will remember them? Us die-hards barely do.
James Toney during his run as MW and SMW champion had a number of non-title fights at SMW and LHW. He was even lauded as the most "active" of all world champions at the time. We definitely not getting that anymore. Unless the champion got stripped walking into the ring but even then it's probably on the line for the opponent so that doesn't really count.
Mickey Mouse title....like Fredo's Mickey Mouse clubs... I agree with you about eliminations , that would be such a great idea....
