This is just for information only - and I posted it on another thread about battling males:

Here we go - from Pythons of the World, Vol 2: Ball Pythons, Barker & Barker, p. 216

We don't combat our males. Ball python males are not as quick to combat as some other python species. Typically, only very closely matched males that have never before had the chance will combat. We don't ever expose our older, established males directly to each other. In ball pythons and other pythons, it is our observation that some youngsters, having been roundly beaten in combat, may not show any courtship behavior for years.
Emphasis added by me.