Why is round 11 and 12 called championship rounds?

Question

Why is round 11 and 12 called championship rounds?

Answer 1

Key is correct. The championship rounds used to be rounds 13-15 and it was amazing how gassed out fighters would get in these three rounds. Many fighters would be dominating the first 10 to 12 rounds but then as the "championship" rounds came the more seasoned and better conditioned fighter would step it up a notch take over and usually knock out their opponents.

Eventually studies showed that most damage to a fighter would occur after the 12th round so they reduced championship fights from 15 to 12 rounds and then every day matches were reduced from 12 to 10 rounds and the 11th and 12th rounds then became championship rounds. To me this sort of gave some well conditioned fighters a disadvantage but the safety of the fighter should be the first concern.

Answer 2

Most novices won't reach those rounds, for one reason or another.

Answer 3

It's generally assumed that the belt holder has more experience than the challenger and that, as a rule, someone fighting for a title very well may never have gone more than ten rounds as only title fights have 12 (or at one time, 15) rounds. Therefore as it would be new territory to the challenger, rounds 11 and 12 are advantageous to the champion.

This isn't so much the case these days; more often than not, whether or not there is a title on the line, if there are big name fighters involved, the promoters make it a 12 round bout. Years ago, a fight could only be over 10 rounds if it was for the championship, other than that it was ten or less, depending on the fighters respective experience.