So, so many fighters lost or were stopped to non elite fighters? A loss makes no difference - PACQUIAO not elite cause he was stopped twice off people at a much lower lvl than McCall and Rahman? Stupid people can't be reasoned with
Where's this definition you stupid *****? Wlad klitschko, stopped 3 times - not elite? Ray Robinson - stopped, not elite? Ray Leonard - stopped, not elite? Tommy Hearns - stopped, not elite? You are a dumb ****er
Lennox Lewis Joe Calzaghe Naseem Hamed Carl Froch Amir Khan David Haye I really believe Martin Murray, Callum Smith,George Groves,James Degale, Frankie Gavin, Scott Quigg all have the potential too Oh and Big Josh
which is "the select part of a group that is superior to the rest in terms of ability and qualities" this will be by weight class, not the mythical P4P rubbish. the top 3-5 in each weight class are the Elite. if you're the Champ of that weight class, you can't get any more Elite than that. this site has become far too gruesome for my liking. it's just full to the brim with idiots who don't know ****.
are you saying that only the greatest fighter EVER in a weight class can be considered Elite???? you're worse than i thought. :tired
As much as i dont like Froch it would take an idiot to say hes not elite when he was rated in the ring magazine top ten. Hes the second best smw in the world
Maybe I should have had a few others as Elite but my interpretation of Elite was more of a fighter who could beat everybody in their division in their prime at the time of their career in that division, David Haye at Cruiser was Elite, but Naz, Joe, Ricky and Carl imo didn't or couldn't beat the best in there divisons. Naz could have fought Barrera, Morales. If he had beaten either then I would have had him as Elite Joe, if he had beat a Super Middleweight version of Roy Jones jr or Bernard Hopkins I would have classed him as Elite Ricky, if he managed a win over either Pacman, Floyd or fought and beat Cotto I would have classed him as Elite Carl, If Carl had managed the win over Andre Ward I would have had him Elite. Maybe I am being too picky but that is my definition of Elite, I respect all other opinions on this and that is why I started the thread not to have people say mine or others opinions are wrong, but to hear other ideas on this especially on the older fighters that I have not seen as much of.
Completely agree if your number 1 or 2 in your division at any time you have got to be considered elite, to be the best in your weight class on the planet is ridiculously hard even getting into the top 3 is an incredibly achievement Think the op's idea of elite is all time great status the type of talent that comes round once in a generation I would say Lennox is probley the closet thing we have had to a truly all time great but he's still way off in my opinion yes he would of been a match for any heavy ever but you can only look at his career and although its an excellent one he did not face the elite till they were past there best
IMO here's levels in boxing Area level British level European Level World Level World Class 2 or 3 best at your weight Elite best at your weight and maybe others p4p top 10 End of the day Lennox Lewis is Canadian. So no matter about his losses I don't see how we can consider him British he got gold at Olympics for Canada that's like saying because Pele played in America he's the best American player of all time.. Joe Calzaghe is our top elite fighter of this generation IMO. David Haye is close to being elite although I believe he moved to heavyweight I to avoid the likes of Hernandez, Huck and Cunningham they 3 would of been better fights than going to heavyweight.. Hamed lost to the number one Barrera..
Hatton beat Tyzsu to become best at 140 lbs, Floyd wasn't at 140 lbs yet and Cotto was still working his way up the ranks, do you consider Hatton elite at the time? Hamed became number 1 at 126 winning multiple belts while Morales and Barrera where fighting at a different weight. Calazaghe became number 1 while Jones and Hopkins where fighting at different weights. Should they all be considered elite?
Great thread but how can Hamed/Calzaghe be in the same bracket as Khan? Khan was not just under elite, he was a solid world champion, who when stepped up (Garcia/Peterson albeit on drugs) was found wanting.