Why do fighters unify then give up belts?

[lparm]

Mikey has done it recently with the ibf strap, Lennox did it with the wba and most infamously Bowe did it trashing the wbc belt.

Why do these guys engage in unification fights, win another belt then give it up?

At first I thought maybe it’s the fee but they’re willing to pay that obviously for the unification bout. The only thing I can think of it the mandatory challenger.

[Scary_canary]

Generally it always has to do with a forced mandatory and/or fees

[Scary_canary]

Hearns already said if ajs win all the title he’d probably only have 1 defence if that as unified champ because of mandatories

[Robbie Barrett]

It's more about the opponent than the belt. A title makes a fight easier to sell because it makes the opponent look more legit.