At what point are champions entitled to take a safe fight?

[SeekDaGreat]

When they need one. Like when they get KTFO6, or when they lose a fight they should have won, and are clearly in need of a tuneup. None of which meet the criteria for Floyd, if that's what you're hinting at.

[DreamerUSA]

i'd say every third fight, provided he isn't a one-fight-per-year champ

Close to how I see it. If a guy is fighting 3 or 4 times a year, I got no problem with them fighting one or two opponents that most people would whine about. If you're only going to fight once or twice a year than you need to be fighting top tier guys.

[Left Hook Tua]

a PROVEN GUY WHO FIGHTS TOP CHALLENGERS is entitled to soft tuneups.

like floyd just fought pac. don't mind he fights berto.

or some of pacs fights in between mab, jmm, em. like larios, velazquez, 3k battery, etc.

as long as you fight your biggest challengers, i don't mind soft touches.

my ideal year for a top fighter is 1-2 tough fights and 2-3 tuneups.

[SilverMiles]

Only if said champion fights more than twice a year. If you're only fighting once or twice annually you should fight top ten every time.

[Eff Pandas]

With how boxing works now I think you could potential never have a fight vs a unsafe opponent if you were really trying to & were a top 5 caliber guy in your division for example. The alphabet rankings are horrid so you could always find a safe opponent there in most divisions & more often than not the mandatory guy doesn't seem like the best guy in the division either. People could always **** on you for it, but the reality is a lot of boxing fans **** on P4P guys who are fighting the best guys out there so who cares.

[boliodogs]

I would say any time as long as they don't do it twice in a row. Hagler set a high standard for champions by fighting a top 4 or 5 guy or higher 4 times a year. Nobody lives up to Hagler's standard and most champions only make 2 title defense a year although some like GGG will make 4 defenses in a year. I don't mind a champion fighting an easier guy but they should still be ranked at least 12th. Just don't do that twice in the same year like cherry picking Wilder is doing. He just defended his title against boxrec's 32nd best heavyweight and will now defend against the 31st best heavyweight and a guy nobody ever heard of. The only thing worse then fighting two cherry picks back to back in the same year is to pull a Cotto and not defend your title at all for a full year. Mayweather is the worst champion of them all at 154. He has gone a full 2 years without ever defending his title he won at a catchweight of 152. He will retire without ever defending his Jr. middleweight titles. The right thing for him to do would have been to vacate those titles 2 years ago.

[Barcham]

As long as they are fighting the best possible opponents a minimum of three fights per year, they have the right to take a filler fight if they cannot find a top quality opponent. If there is a prime opponent ready and able to fight, that fight should never be avoided for a lesser fighter.

[Jsmooth9876]

None if you expect us to pay or it.
If you came off a big fight and then take a softer one on HBO,PBC, or Showtime then whatever.

Kell brook is doing the typical Overseas thing. Win a title and hold it hostage over there forever. He's had one big fight his whole career.

[MurkaMan]

When they need one. Like when they get KTFO6, or when they lose a fight they should have won, and are clearly in need of a tuneup. None of which meet the criteria for Floyd, if that's what you're hinting at.

Floyd has had nothing but back to back tough fights against guys who are half his age and outweigh him by 15lbs. People cry about a KO, when its extremely impressive that he even wins. He would come off layoffs and dominate top opponents.

People called Marcos a cherry pick but people ignore the circumstances. Marcos was in his prime, while Floyd was 37. Floyd was 148 while Marcos was 165lbs. Floyd took a bit of a beating in both fights. He can get away with Berto who is also bigger and younger than him, but I dont think this should be on ppv!

[JmH Reborn]

I think champs are entitled to safe fights - prolonged as they non-title. So perhaps in between fights if they wanted a 10 round tune-up against non-descript fighters to stay sharp, especially as they get older; I would totally be cool with that and support it. They should defend their titles though against Top 10 fare though.