By John Snow: So the main purpose of me writing this piece is mainly looking at the sport of boxing in a different light, I will use a few modern fighters Victor Ortiz, Amir Khan and Floyd Mayweather Jr, along with some of our golden oldies Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson etc.

So generally in most sports in the UK and US we have seasonal sports, football (soccer for my Americans). The UK seasons is played from August- May, American football regular season starts at September finishes December. Athletes are expected to be fit for that period. + – pre and off season.

Boxing is a whole new game, as boxers we expect our pros/elite fighters after they are done with finding their feet to fight 1-3 times a year. Now without sounding like a soccer mum, boxing hurts, it’s the gladiator event of our time you go into a ring with another opponent who is here to hit you and avoid being hit. Fights can last 45 minutes and the end result is broken bones, blood and the odd case of being taken to the hospital. This takes it toll on the body, you only have to look at the greats Ali Parkinson disease (most medics have cited regular blows to the body have contributed to Ali condition).

So what is the purpose of this article? To scare boxing fans, never!

I am here because I’ve come across a lot of comments on Khan related articles or Ortiz articles citing their inactivity as a reason for not getting big fights. (Staying on topic Khan not fighting a world-class boxer compared to Khan taking a year out is two completely different things). Taking Amir Khan further he went to the Olympics aged 17 and has fought pro or amateur for a decade. He has been KO’d and dropped multiple times. Excluding the Luis Collazo fight. He had not fought since 2013-04-27 against Julio Diaz. But my article is about taking a year out, not Amir Khan.

Since he has gone away he has changed trainers, worked on his game for over a year in the belief he will come back stronger. I think this is probably the smartest move the kid has done in a while, everyone knows when you change your job, or your coach it’s that building in process, which takes time not overnight. It’s been nearly 18 months since he has been with Virgil and I think giving his body a break and building a new relationship with a coach is as important as fighting/ keeping busy all year round.

Now I am not here just to write about Khan let me give a few more examples of pro boxers taking a year off/ length periods off.

Miguel Cotto after fighting Antonio Margarito2008-07-26 took 7 months off before next fight against Michael Jennings. 2009-02-21

Victor Ortiz after fighting Joseph Lopez 2012-06-23 did not fight until 2014-1-30 a year + against Luis Collazo. Ortiz lost both fights keeping my argument fair that sometimes taking a year off doesn’t help.

Tyson and Ali did take time off however this was more enforced (rightly or wrongly) I am not here to write a political/ legal essay. But Ali did return to his winnings ways.

Now Floyd Mayweather arguably the best P4P of his generation, certainly the most lucrative. Has taken takes multiple periods off, along with Floyd’s fighting style which enables him not getting hit. Taking off long periods does allow in my view Floyd to keep fit and still be a beast in boxing in his mid-30’s. (The Marcos Maidana fight for me has a lot of question marks, is father time catching up with him? Or did Marcos give one hell of performance. Personally it’s a combination of the two.

Best example Mayweather did spend time in jail but check this out, Mayweather fought Miguel Cotto on 2012-05-05, and his next fight was Robert Guerrero 2013-05-4 364 days later.

Let me summarize for you what I have been trying to within this article, do not knock boxers who take length periods out of the game, in my opinion it allows a fighter to relax, recover and iron out flaws they may perceive to have. You don’t have to look deep into pro boxer’s career to see the benefit of taking that year off however “The Year Off” has not worked for Vitctor Otiz who lost his most recent fight, but watching Khan on the undercard, you could see how he has changed his game, become dirtier or ring smart. Just like fighting top ranked opposition is important, giving your body time to rest and recover is just as important. What you don’t want in the year off is what Ricky Hatton used to do which was balloon up in weight class, and then diet down.

By keeping fit and healthy all year round outside of the ring it can allow for better conditioning inside the ring.