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by David P. Greisman - When the Brown Bomber soared highest, he took flight between three and seven times a year, defending the heavyweight championship against everyone from bums of the month to future Hall-of-Famers. Over an 11-year period – including an extended gap while he served his country during World War II – Joe Louis racked up a record 25 successful title defenses.
His successors haven’t exactly followed suit.
Last year, the four sanctioning body belts went up for grabs a combined six times: Wladimir Klitschko’s stoppages of mismatched opponents Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster; Nicolay Valuev’s injury-caused technical knockout win over Jameel McCline and subsequent title loss to Ruslan Chagaev; and Sultan Ibragimov’s dethroning of Shannon Briggs and subsequent defense against Evander Holyfield. Oleg Maskaev was on the shelf for the entire year. [details]
His successors haven’t exactly followed suit.
Last year, the four sanctioning body belts went up for grabs a combined six times: Wladimir Klitschko’s stoppages of mismatched opponents Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster; Nicolay Valuev’s injury-caused technical knockout win over Jameel McCline and subsequent title loss to Ruslan Chagaev; and Sultan Ibragimov’s dethroning of Shannon Briggs and subsequent defense against Evander Holyfield. Oleg Maskaev was on the shelf for the entire year. [details]
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