I see your point, but my impression from current Oda's writing is that the fights only really "count" on the chapters they are more focused.
Some random panel showing jinbei holding off Whoswho, or Franky and Sasaki wrestling don't actually have an impact at all.
I just feel like Oda tries too hard to juggle between fights, to make it more "real" in a sense it's not a 1v1 tournament that only 1 fight happens each time until they are all done.
Which is something I actually commend him for. I think it's a valid thing to do, but I also think that the result is poor.
No wonder we end up with dozens of "essays" of people trying to measure the fighters due to "how long have they been fighting?" and going through panel after panel and trying to guess stuff that Oda himself has no control over.
Now that I totally agree with. Tbh, One Piece's fights have always been "messy". Even as far back as Buggy, it's not like Nami got a fight and Zoro fought at full strength (he was injured).
Nearly every arc has some level of chaos when it comes to battles. Characters sometimes win in crazy ways (Chopper getting Monster point by sheer desperation, Usopp scaring Perona and winning). I think the only arc where every Strawhat got a justified fight across 2-4 chapters was Alabasta. From that point on, every arc has left certain strawhats out of particular fights, or thrown curveballs into the mix.
Tbh, I'm a tiny bit disappointed Oda didn't make some of the F6 more formidable, but I completely understand that in the context of an arc with 60 characters and being this huge, giving Jinbe, Franky and Robin those fights was a great move and it's nice he even gave us those 4 chapters. Not only that but it seems like he won't shaft the Calamity fights for the Yonko either (unless Inu just beats Jack lol).
Plus, we'll see what the rest of the arc brings. There are so many questions that remain:
- Can/will the F6 actually get up?
- If Inu loses, who will fight Jack?
- What will the remaining 4 Numbers do? Will the other 6 get up again?
- Will the BMP be a factor once Wano lands?
- Orochi? Apoo? Hawkins? Peros? Fukurokuju?
Tons of possibilities to induce more "chaos"